


Project: Persephone

by commanderspectre



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-21
Updated: 2017-03-13
Packaged: 2018-07-25 18:20:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 38
Words: 50,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7543087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/commanderspectre/pseuds/commanderspectre
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a Cerberus facility on a backwater planet, Commander Madeline Shepard finds a young woman being used a test subject. She's a strong, but not extraordinary, biotic and possesses no memories of her life before or during her time in the facility. Shepard takes her on board the Normandy and she mostly keeps to herself, sensing the suspicious and not so hidden distrust of the rest of the crew</p><p>There's something off about her though that Shepard can't seem to quite pinpoint. She's perfectly pleasant, if a little shy, but only time will tell whether or not Shepard made a mistake in allowing her on board.</p><p>(Updates every Monday)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The planet was a garden world, habitable but with a higher concentration of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere making the plant life grow to almost prehistoric proportions. Let’s not mention the insect life.

“ _ Dios! _ ” James exclaimed, flailing briefly. “Where the hell is that facility? I’m pretty sure that mosquito was the size of a chihuahua.”

“Just up ahead.” Shepard said, humor accenting her voice. “I told you to use bug spray, Vega.”

“Fuck bug spray,” He grumbled, “Give me a damn flame thrower.”

The facility was almost overgrown with vegetation, ivy vines climbing up the sides of the building. All there needed to be is torrential rain and it would remind her of Pragia. As if beckoned, thunder rolled overhead, rain starting a moment later, pattering against leaves and trees, masking the sounds of their approach.

Cerberus troopers in their white armor stood out very stark against the dark, lush green of their surroundings as they patrolled the perimeter. Giving the hand signal to stay put, Shepard snuck up behind the nearest trooper and in a quick move, snapped his neck, pulling him away from the building and out of sight.

“Nice going.” James said, “He have a security pass?”

“Got it right here.” She said, pulling the slim card from a slot in the armor, attaching it to her own.

“Okay, that’ll get us  _ into _ the building,” Garrus said, “Any clue on what we’ll find inside?”

“Nope.” Shepard said and he gave a sigh.

“Just like old times.” He said, “And we still have no idea what this “Project: Persephone” is?”

“No, we do not.” Shepard said, “All we know is what Liara’s agents manage to weasel out of Cerberus operatives. That it’s highly classified and only a few people even know about it. Miranda even had no idea what I was talking about when I asked her about it. Or, at least, she  _ said _ she had no idea. I guess we’ll find out when we get there.”

“Granted this isn’t another dead end like the last three places.” James said and flailed again, “Seriously, can we get inside now?”

“Move out.” She said, shaking her head with a smile pulling at her lips. Garrus and James worked good together, but she missed Kaidan. The press of his biotics against her own, the way he always seemed to know exactly where she wanted him, like he could read her mind. But he was light years away, recovering from his injuries in Huerta. The sight of his bruised and bloody face came forward unbidden and she blinked hard to push the image away.

They had just started to patch things up, talking during her incarceration on Earth, having highly supervised meals together when his schedule allowed it. She still loved him and she missed him.

But it wasn’t the time nor the place to think about such things, she needed to focus on the task at hand and Madeline Shepard could have incredible focus when she needed to. It’s what got her through Akuze: focusing on staying alive even as everyone around her died. It got her through the N7 Sentinel Program, defeating Saren (her only lapse: the perfect night she spent with Kaidan), and destroying the Collector base. Yes, she could be incredibly focused when she needed to be.

Shepard activated her tech armor the moment they entered the base, a firefight erupting almost immediately as troopers opened fire.

_ “It’s Shepard!” _ The call went out, scientists scrambling into rooms probably to destroy files.

“EDI!” She called over the comms.

_ “I gained control of their systems and started a data mine the moment you entered the facility, Shepard.” _ The AI said in her ear, “ _ The files are heavily encrypted and it will take time to decode them, but I believe have all the information pertaining to Project: Persephone. I have also taken the liberty of locking all of the scientists in their labs.” _

“You’re the best, EDI.” She said amidst bursts from her rifle.

_ “Keep Shepard away from Persephone!” _ A trooper yelled.

“Looks like we found the right place!” James noted, almost with glee and they moved their way through the facility, heading in the direction where the troopers seemed to be the thickest. The Cerberus soldiers fought hard to push them back, but they kept moving forward until the area was cleared.

_ “Shepard,” _ EDI said in her ear, “ _ According to the few files I have managed to decrypt, Project: Persephone is being housed in a room in the northeast wing of the facility.” _

“Any idea what it is, yet?”

_ “Negative, Shepard. These files seem to be from the Project's infancy a little over a year ago.” _

“When I was working with Cerberus.”

_ “That is correct. It seems the Project was started towards the end of Project: Lazarus, before you regained consciousness.” _

“You guys got all that?” Shepard asked.

“Got it, northeast wing of the facility.” James said.

“Maybe it was their backup plan in case bringing you back didn’t work?” Garrus suggested.

“It was started towards the end, meaning they had already brought me back, I just needed to finish healing. Let’s just get to Project center and we’ll figure out what it is.” Shepard and they made their way towards it, battling through waves of troopers as they pushed forward.

There was a door different from the others and they cleared the area around it, James setting proximity mines at the ends of the hallways’ entrances so they would know if they were about to get interrupted.

“Garrus, get the door, we’ll keep watch.” Shepard said.

“On it, Shepard.” He said as he approached it, bringing up his omnitool. It took a bit longer, but the more sophisticated lock flashed green, the door opening. He was suddenly blasted back, hitting the wall hard and sliding to the floor as the door closed and locked again.

“Garrus!” Shepard exclaimed, going to him and crouching down.

“I’m fine.” He wheezed, “Human. Female. Dark hair, strong biotics. Didn’t get a very good look at her before she Threw me out of the room, but she wasn’t dressed like a scientist.”

“EDI are we in the right place?” Shepard asked, as she held Garrus’ shoulder.

_ “Yes, Shepard. Project: Persephone is behind that door.” _

“Son of a--” She moved away from him, standing and approaching the door. “Persephone?” There was a pregnant pause.

“How did you know my name?” The voice was soft, hesitant, but demanding.

“Holy shit.” James said, “It’s not a piece of tech or a weapon, it’s a  _ person. _ ”

“Persephone, can you open the door? We’re not going to hurt you.” Shepard said.

“All I’ve heard for the past hour is the sounds of people dying, and you say you’re not going to hurt me?” There was a small, humorless laugh, “The words “bite me” come to mind.”

“My name is Commander Shepard, do you know who I am?”

“Yeah, they talked about you. Trust me, you  _ really _ don’t want to know what they said.” Persephone said, “They also said you’d kill me if you ever found me.”

“I’m not here to kill you, Persephone, I came here to find you.”

“Why?”

“To get you out of here.” Shepard said, her voice turning gentle, “Can’t imagine this is a great place to be.”

“It’s all I’ve ever known.” Her voice held a sad note of defeat and resignation. “You’re really here to get me out?”

“I am.” Shepard said and there was a long pause.

“Okay, I’m opening the door, but holster your weapon and keep your hands where I can see them.” Putting her rifle away, she raised her hands in a disarming sort of way, the door opening. The room was a plain sterile white with absolutely no personal touches. Simple hospital bed, foot locker and wardrobe. She ended her brief inspection at the woman standing there in white patient scrubs, her feet bare on the metal floor.

Dark, ashen brown hair fell down her back in loose ringlets, swept over to one side showing that a large section of it had been shaved away, and old surgery scar and marks of an implant visible through the dark stubble on her scalp. Large, warm amber colored eyes regarded her carefully, and there was something about her eyes that was so familiar, though Shepard couldn’t place it. Shepard took a step forward but instantly stopped as she took a step back, biotics pressing against hers.

“I’m not going to hurt you, Persephone.” Shepard said gently.

“You mentioned that.” Persephone said, still looking at her as if she expected her to attack. She took another couple of steps away, biotics making her eyes swirl as James came into the room suddenly.

“It’s okay!” Shepard said, “Persephone, this is Lieutenant James Vega, he’s with me. He’s not going to hurt you either.”

“And the Turian?”

“That’s also a friend of mine. I’m sorry he scared you.”

“He didn’t scare me.” Persephone said defensively, “He just...I wasn’t expecting a Turian to walk in with a gun drawn, is all. There’s no one but other humans here.”

“Is him being a Turian going to be a problem?” Shepard asked carefully and recieved a look.

“They tried to teach me to hate aliens, said they were all monsters and animals. I asked them why I should hate them and they didn’t give me a good enough answer so I knew it was all ignorant bullshit.” She said.

“She kind of reminds me of you, Lola.” James said with a sideways grin. “Troopers are regrouping, if we’re leaving and taking her with us, we have to do it soon.”

“Are you coming with us, Persephone?” Shepard asked and she watched her think about it, looking around the room.

“Let’s get out of here.”


	2. Chapter 2

Shepard relaxed in her bed in the Loft, muscles sore from the final push to the rendezvous point. The troopers had actually pushed at them harder when they saw that Persephone was with them, instead of pulling their shots for fear of catching her in a crossfire. For having no armor and no weapons, the young woman had actually proven an asset, throwing up a barrier to block enemy bullets and Throwing troopers out of the way when their path was blocked.

Steve had been rightfully surprised when they boarded the shuttle that  _ she _ was Project: Persephone, having assumed along with the rest of them that it was an inanimate object, not a person. She had been quiet on the trip back to the Normandy, curling up in one of the seats and hugging her knees to her chest.

Chakwas had given her a clean bill of health and estimated her age at around twenty, twenty-one, seeing as she didn't remember having ever celebrated a birthday. Cerberus, it seemed, had made a habit of wiping her memory on a regular basis, though how many times they had was unknown. One of the first things Shepard had Karin do after giving Persephone a physical was sweep for a control chip, not wanting to get blindsided by a sleeper agent. She found none, but she did find several cybernetic implants, nothing too extreme like Shepard had, hers would increase her reflexes, cognitive abilities, and sensory perceptions. She also found, unsurprisingly, a biotic implant, again nothing extreme, only slightly better than the one they had outfitted Shepard with during Project: Lazarus. 

Persephone was currently sleeping soundly in the medbay until they figured out where they wanted to put her. EDI was still decrypting the files she had mined from the facility, but it seemed they only had a partial set, ones from the Project’s beginning, the rest either destroyed or in an off site location for safety.

Bringing up her omnitool, she punched in a number and the screen came up, a spinning circle on the display until it was answered, Kaidan's face coming in view, the angle telling her that he was laying down. The bruises had started to fade to a sickly green and he wasn't nearly as pale as he had been the first time she saw him after he woke up.

“Hey, Maddy.” He said, a smile pulling at his lips as he saw her.

“Hey, Kaidan.” She said, returning the smile.

“How was your mission? Did you find what you were looking for?” He asked as he shifted, moving to lay on his side.

“Oh yeah, we found it alright.” Shepard said, “Let me tell you about it.”

Persephone wasn't in the medbay when Shepard emerged early next morning, nor was she in the mess hall or any of the crew areas. She hadn't been there when Karin arrived in the morning, the bed she had been using neatly made, no sign that she had been there at all.

Garrus didn't remember seeing her recently, neither did Liara or anyone else she asked. She couldn't have left the ship, they were in cloaked orbit around a planet.

“EDI, where's Persephone?”

_ “Persephone is in the area below Engineering, the space Jack used to occupy.” _

“Thank you, EDI.” Shepard said and took the elevator down, heading down the stairs to the gloom beneath the drive core. Persephone didn't look up when she approached, sitting with her legs folded on a crate, looking down at something cupped in her hand. “What're you doing down here?”

“I didn't touch anything and I didn't go into Engineering.” She said immediately, “It's quiet down here, and this little guy has been keeping me company.” She scooped into her hand and brought it up, the small, pudgy ball of brown fur clinging to her fingers as she held him gently.

“Pressly!” Shepard exclaimed happily, going over to her, the hamster squeaking at her in acknowledgement. “I was wondering where he ended up.”

“He's yours?” Persephone asked, “I found him down here, he crawled into my lap while I was sitting here to say hello. Do you want him back?”

“No, you keep him.” Shepard said after a pause, “He seems to like you. I have his habitat in my quarters.”

“I'll bring it down here later.” She said, resuming her petting of the hamster cradled in her hand.

“You don't have to stay down here, you know. The Crew Deck--”

“They don't want me there. The rest of the Crew.” Persephone said, “Biotics may not be telepathic, but I know what they're thinking and they don't want me there. They look at me with suspicion and carefully guarded hostility. It's better down here; quiet and I'm out of the way and out of sight.”

“I’ll talk--”

“Don’t, it’s fine.” She said quickly and they fell into a silence.

“Where’d you get the clothes?” Shepard asked, having noticed when she got down there that Persephone was no longer wearing the white patient scrubs, having changed into a C-Sec hoodie and sweatpants, thin flats on her feet.

“Garrus and the Asari next to the mess, Liara?” She said, “The sweater fits a bit strange seeing as it’s for Turian physiology, but it’s comfortable, and it was nice of them to share. Oddly enough, the aliens were more welcoming than the humans. The AI, EDI? She said that if I needed anything, I only had to ask.”

“ _ Given her ordeal, I thought it would be wise to try to make her feel as comfortable as possible.” _

“Thanks, EDI.” Persephone said with a ghost of a smile, “I appreciate it, really.”

“Speaking of,” Shepard said with a sigh, “Do you have any memories of what they did to you in that facility? What tests they ran?” The other woman went very quiet, staring down at Pressly as her fingertips moved over the sleeping hamsters fur.

“Vague snippets.” She said finally, “Waking up, being called Persephone, having blood drawn. Some combat training, but I can’t remember what exactly. And pain, I remember lots of pain. I remember a couple of the scientists saying that the “Illusive Man” was demanding an update. Who is that?” She looked up at her at that.

“He’s the head of Cerberus.”

“Like, the whole organization?” She asked and Shepard nodded. “Guess he was invested. He’s probably going to pissed that I’m with you now.”

“That’s just an added bonus, annoying him was always so much fun.” Shepard said and she gave a brief sound of amusement, her lips pulling into a wide smile that was almost familiar, though like her eyes, Shepard couldn’t place from where.

“What’re you going to do with me?” Persephone asked, once again serious, looking down in her hand and Shepard gave another sigh.

“I don’t know, kiddo.” Shepard said, “My boss, Admiral Hackett, he wants an update on what the Project was.”

“Tell him the truth.” Persephone said with a shrug. “Tell him it’s me.”

“I don’t know what he’ll do.” She  _ did _ know what he would do. He would insist that Persephone be taken off the Normandy to some Alliance lab to be tested on, poked and prodded to see what Cerberus had done to her, how they had changed her, see if they could use that against them. They did the same thing to her while she was incarcerated on Earth.

“Can’t be any worse than what’s already been done.” She said.

“I thought you didn’t remember.”

“I don’t.” She said with another shrug, “But it’s feelings, mostly. I think they wiped my memory for a reason. Shit, Shepard, if the Alliance wanted to not risk it and put a bullet in my head, I wouldn’t blame them.”

“That is  _ not _ going to happen. Do you understand me?”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.” Persephone said, “I mean, hell. For all you know, I’m a  _ literal _ time bomb, like…” She thought about it for a moment, “If a code isn’t transmitted to my implant every X number of hours, it detonates and blows out a chunk of my brain stem.” They shared a look.

“Let’s get you to Dr. Chakwas.”

“Yes, please.” She said, climbing down off the crate and putting Pressly in the hoodie pocket as they made their way back up to the medbay.

A few extensive scans later and they both breathed a sigh of relief as Karin informed them that there was no such device or programming in  _ any _ of her cybernetics or her biotic implant. While they hadn’t put it past Cerberus to install that kind of failsafe, it seemed the scientists and/or the Illusive Man hadn’t anticipated losing control of their Project.

“He was an arrogant bastard when I worked with him, too.” Shepard remarked and Persephone snorted in amusement. “Karin, what’s with the look?” The Doctor was looking back and forth between them two of them, her brow furrowed.

“Must be a trick of the light.” She said dismissively, “Now, if that will be all, Commander…”

“Yeah, we’ll get out of your way.” She said and tapped Persephone’s knee, “Come on, let’s go get Pressly’s tank. Are you  _ sure  _ you want to stay down in that hole?”

“I like it down there.” Persephone said with a small shrug as they left the medbay. They both almost walked into James as they rounded the corner to the elevator.

“Jesus, walking wall.” Shepard said, having clearly been startled by his sudden appearance.

“Sorry, Lola.” James said, looking for all the galaxy that he  _ wasn’t _ sorry, “Traynor is patching the comms and she asked me to tell you Urdnot Wrex and the Salarian Dalatrass are ready to meet with you and the Primarch.” He then looked over, noticing the other woman was there, a slow smile pulling at his lips. “Hey, Persephone.”

“Hello.” Persephone said, a slight pink tinge coming over her cheeks.

“Will that be all, Lieutenant?” Shepard asked and his attention snapped back to her at the authoritative tone.

“Yes, Commander.” He said and moved past them as they went to the elevator.

“Really, Shepard?” Persephone asked.

“Let me tell you something about James Vega.” She said as they took the elevator up to the Loft, “He's a shameless flirt that hits on pretty much anything that walks in two legs.”

“I wasn't planning on reading anything into it, don't worry.” She said, sounding very amused with the whole thing. “Besides, all he said was “hi” so I think  _ you're  _ reading a bit too much into it.”

“He was my...guard while I was under basically house arrest on Earth, I got to know him really well in that time.”

“Oh, really?”

“Not like that. I'm already with someone. Sort of. It's complicated, we’re working on it.”

“What's his name?” Persephone asked, “Or her name?”

“Kaidan, his name is Kaidan.” Shepard said and they stepped off the elevator, going into the Loft. Persephone gently removed a still sleeping Pressly out of her pocket, gently putting him in the habitat on a shelf. 

“Alenko?” She asked, turning to look at her with a soft scowl.

“Yeah, actually. Do you...know him?”

“Not personally, obviously, but I have vague memories of the name being said once or twice. Couldn’t tell you the context, though.”

“Not sure how I feel about that, to be honest.” Shepard said as she went over to her wardrobe, the rack extending out from the wall and she took down the garment bag with her dress blues.

“I’ll leave you to get ready for your meeting.” Persephone said and turned to leave.

“You forgot Pressly.” Shepard said and she stopped.

“You should keep him, he’d just be bored down in the hold with me.” With that, she left, the door to the Loft closing behind her.


	3. Chapter 3

Cure the Genophage. That was Wrex’s condition to helping the Turians with Palaven. End the millennia long “sterility plague” that was slowly driving the Krogan extinct. The Dalatrass was...adamant that such a thing never happen, her inability to see the big picture infuriating. They  _ needed _ the Krogan to help fight the Reapers, and if this is what it took, she needed to put her pride aside and cooperate. For some reason, Shepard doubted she would.

Try as she did otherwise, her thoughts kept going down to the woman in the bottom of Engineering. There was something slightly...off about Persephone. A nagging feeling in the back of her mind. It might be just because of what she knew about her upbringing, and that Persephone knew close to nothing. She asked Adams to let her know if Persephone wandered into Engineering, and while the door automatically opened  as she went past on her way down the stairs, she didn’t actually go into the area, staying away from the drive core and the more sensitive systems of the ship.

But she had more pressing things to think about; Krogan females immune to the Genophage were being held in an STG Research Lab on Sur’Kesh and needed to be rescued so a cure could be synthesized. The Dalatrass tried to deny it, but for a politician, she wasn’t a very good liar and folded when video footage of the females was displayed. Wrex had an inside man in the STG, something that might cause more stress between the Salarians and the Krogan.

Shepard gave a sigh as she stepped up to the Galaxy Map, popping her neck as she brought it up, setting their course for the Salarian homeworld. It was going to be a long war.

Persephone didn’t fail to notice how everything went still the moment she entered the mess hall. The corner of her lips perked almost imperceptibly as she fought the urge to whip around and yell “Boo!”, but that would probably just get her shot. Going over to one of the cabinets, she unlocked it and pulled it open, looking through the different boxes before she found the energy fruit bars she had taken a liking to. Specifically designed for a biotic’s metabolism, high in natural sugars and protein. Strawberry Pineapple was her favorite.

She could feel her biotics thrumming under her skin and she rotated her shoulders, popping her neck as she let herself leak just a little bit, just to take the edge off the current running through her. Pale wisps of dark energy bled from her clothes and she felt some of the tension leave her muscles before she reined it back in again. At the facility, she used her biotics almost daily, and extensively. She couldn’t remember what for or in what way, but she had vague memories of collapsing into bed exhausted, head pounding and implant searing.

Unable to sleep, she had wandered out of the medbay last night, giving herself a tour of the ship and found her way into the Starboard Observation Deck, the sight of the stars just outside breathtaking and relaxing. Recalling a meditation technique taught to her by a scientist as a way to expend excess biotic energy nondestructively, she went there, finding it thankfully empty and went about collecting small items no larger than her fist, taking them from shelves and cupboards, clearing an area on the floor and sitting with her legs folded, setting the objects around her.

Taking a deep breath, she let it out slowly as she closed her eyes, her biotics never far out of reach as she concentrated on her breathing, reaching out with her abilities to the room around her almost like a strange sonar. She could feel the hum of the engine under her and could “see” the objects scattered on the floor. Expanding out, she “touched” each one, lifting them into the air one by one until they hovered there at random levels. Then, with another deep breath, they started to spin around her slowly in eclipsing circles, dipping and weaving through the air around their center, orbiting her like planets would orbit their sun. It took extreme concentration and clarity to be able to do this and maintain it, also extreme endurance to maintain it for any length of time.

A feeling of weightlessness gathered in her chest, a strange, almost empty sensation as all the nervous tension and doubts from the last twenty-four hours started to melt away. It didn’t matter what the crew of the Normandy thought about her, or what Shepard and the Alliance Brass planned to do with her. Whatever happens, happens.

“Holy---Jedi.” Her concentration broke and the objects fell to the floor, a few breaking on impact. Biotics still swirled in her eyes as she opened them, the aura retreating back into her skin and she blinked a few times, focusing on Lieutenant Cortez standing there, looking at her with wide eyes.

“What’s a Jedi?” Persephone asked, regarding him peacefully. She hasn’t said more than two words to the man since setting foot on the Normandy, having thanked him upon leaving the shuttle before Shepard ferreted her off the medbay to get checked over.

“You’ve never heard of--forgot, raised in a lab.” He said, “One moment.” He brought up his omnitool. “Vega, you up for a movie marathon?”

“Always, Esteban.” Vega said, “What’re we watching?”

“The Star Wars series with Persephone, she’s never seen it or heard of it. Despite the fact that apparently she’s a Master Jedi. I swear I just watched her use the Force.”

“That was biotics.” Persephone said, scowling slightly.

“The Force.” He insisted. “What do you think, James?”

“ _ Hell yeah _ , I’ll make the popcorn and bring the beer!” His excitement made her give a small smile and she took the hand Cortez offered, the pilot helping her to her feet. He was nice enough to help her clean up the small mess created by her broken concentration, and she was unable to dissuade him of the notion that she was a “Jedi”. To be completely honest, the whole thing amused her slightly, he was the first human crew member outside James and Shepard that didn’t regard her with suspicion, or walk on eggshells around her as if she was going to snap.

Once the area was cleaned up, they made their way down the hall to the Crew Lounge, finding James already there with a large bowl of what she was guessing was popcorn and a small container of six bottles. He was already setting up the screen, the large observation window going opaque.

“A New Hope, or The Phantom Menace?” He asked, turning around as they came in. Cortez must have given him a look because he shrugged, “A New Hope it is.”

“How about this: Episodes Four and Five first,” Cortez started, “Then One, Two, and Three, then the rest of them starting with Episode 6.”

“Nice, add a bit of suspense after Han gets---nevermind.” James said, catching the frantic motions Steve gave him. “Sound good to you, Persephone?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, so okay.” She said and he snorted, grabbing a bottle and popping the cap off.

“Have you…” he paused, “Ever had beer?” She gave him a look, “That’s a no. Here.” He handed the bottle out to her.

“Vega!” Steve barked.

“What?! She’s an adult! Chakwas estimated her age at about twenty! Besides, would you rather she try it here, or if she goes to Purgatory?” They exchanged a look, but Persephone gave an exasperated sound, grabbing the bottle from his still outstretched hand.

“I’m not a child.” She muttered and took a sip, but pulled it away from her lips as the bitter taste filled her mouth. Swallowing the sip regardless, she pulled a face, making a disgusted sound as she handed it back to him. “This is all yours, no thank you.” James took the bottle from her, a wide smile pulling at his lips.

“I’ll go get you a Tupari.” Steve said, rolling his eyes and chuckling.

“You don’t have to, I can--”

“No, no. Sit while Vega starts the movie. Preference to flavor?” Steve asked and there was a pause.

“Lime, if you have it. Anything, if you don’t.” Persephone said a bit sheepishly.

“You and Shepard.” He muttered as he walked out of the Lounge. Moving around the couch, she sat in the middle with her legs folded, hands holding her ankles and James sat next to her, setting the large bowl in her lap.

“You’re keeper of the popcorn.” He said, “Try not to eat it all, I know how you biotics are.” He gave her a wink and she looked away with a smile, a small blush coming to her cheeks. Taking a few small pieces, she looked at them before popping them into her mouth. The texture wasn’t what she was expecting, but it was good, buttery and salty and was that...garlic? “Good?”

“Good.” She confirmed, eating a few more pieces. Persephone thanked Cortez when he came back, handing her a bottle of bright green drink as he sat down on the other side of her. The lights in the Lounge dimmed as James put in a command into his omnitool and the screen activated.

_ A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away... _


	4. Chapter 4

She woke feeling safe and warm, a strong, steady heartbeat in her ear and low voices talking above her. A heavy arm was wrapped around her waist, keeping her close and warm breath ruffled her hair.

_ “I don’t think she sleeps very well.”  _ One voice said.

_ “It’s only been a couple days, she’s probably still adjusting.” _ Another, closer voice noted, “ _ Hell of a culture shock going from a lab to a frigate.” _

_ “She made herself a little nest in the cargo area under Engineering.” _

_ “Human’s don’t make nests, Scars.” _

_ “You know what I mean.” _

_ “Yeah. _ ”

“ _ Good thing _ I  _ found you two, and not Shepard.” _

_ “Yeah, let’s  _ not  _ mention this to the Commander.” _

“Mention what?” She asked blearily, still slowly coming awake, more comfortable than she could ever remember being.

“Good morning.” James said, looking down at her, a small smile pulling at his lips and it took her a moment before everything snapped into place. Persephone flung herself off him and onto the floor with a small squeak, cheeks flaming bright red at having fallen asleep on his chest. The last thing she remembered from the night before was Anakin complaining at length about sand. How she and James had wound up stretched out on the couch together covered in a thin blanket was beyond her.

“I’m so sorry!” She exclaimed, covering her face in mortification.

“Hey, whoa, don’t be!” James said, “Scars, I got this. Go tell the Commander I’ll be ready in forty-five.” His hands laid on her shoulders, but she didn’t look at him. “Persephone, it’s okay, really. You were tired and I really didn’t mind. Besides, I’m not going to complain about having a cute girl fall asleep on me.”

“I didn’t make you uncomfortable?” Persephone asked.

“Not at all!” James said, “I woke up before you did and you looked so peaceful, I didn’t want to wake you up. Listen, I have to get ready for a mission, are you going to be okay?” She stared at him for a moment, seeing the almost pitying look he was giving her and she withdrew her emotions, stamping them down, an impassive mask slipping over her features.

“I’ll be fine, James. Go get ready.” She said evenly and surprise flickered across his face at the sudden shift.

“We’ll...have to find time to watch some more of the movies.” He said and they got to their feet.

“I’d like that.” Persephone said, her lips pulling into a small, carefully crafted smile. It seemed to relieve him a little, his shoulders dropping slightly as he relaxed.

“Okay, well, you should go get some rest, it’s still early. I’ll um...come find you after we get back.” James said.

“If you want.” She said and he gave her a small smirk.

“Well, yeah.” He said, “I need to go get ready.”

“Go on, don't let me keep you.” She said, moving her head at the door and he gave her another smile, which she returned, before leaving. It dropped the moment he was gone and she sat down on the couch, folding up the blanket and setting it over the back. She had to watch herself around the Lieutenant. He was charming and attractive, flirting with her constantly. If what Shepard said was true, and she had no reason to believe otherwise, that was just a quirk of his personality and he wasn't serious about it. 

The fact that it seemed as if he pitied her only confirmed it, and that made her wonder if Cortez regarded her the same way, and if that was the only reason why he had sought her out. Honestly, she'd prefer disdain and suspicion over pity.

The Flight Lieutenant must have cleaned up after she had James has fallen asleep; there were no bottles anywhere and the empty bowl was gone. Nothing for her to do there, she left the Lounge, heading back down to her “nest” under Engineering. Out of sight, out of mind.

There was a basket waiting for her on a crate and she blinked at it a couple times before she went to it, opening it and finding several sets of clothes along with underthings and an array of toiletries. After giving the card a quick read, she saw it was from Dr. T’Soni and Specialist Traynor, the latter she met only briefly when they crossed paths in the hall. The woman seemed pleasant, a little understandably nervous around her. She'd have to thank the two women later, even as a thought to return the gifts crossed her mind. That would be rude, they were only trying to help, and she needed the items.

Gathering up a few choices, she made her way back up to the crew deck, finding the women's showers thankfully empty. The crew wasn't that large and everyone seemed to be up and about their day so she suspected she wouldn't be interrupted. Still, she brought up her omnitool and locked the door, just in case.

She forced her mind to stay blank as she showered, washing her long fall of thick hair and scrubbing herself clean, going through the motions quickly. As she dried, her hands traced over the various scars marring her skin, the memories of how she had gotten them missing along with so many others. Some of them were clearly from procedures, but others seemed as if they were from injuries. With a sigh, she got dressed and gathered her toiletries, heading back down below Engineering.

It was several hours before she heard and felt the cargo bay door open and the shuttle land. She was laying there in the dark, a datapad that had been in the care package turned off and on a crate within reach. Persephone heard the door to Engineering open, a gait that she had come to attribute to James making it’s way down the stairs, but she rolled over, her back to the stairway and heard him stop. He gave a small sigh and she closed her eyes as she heard him come closer, a blanket pulled over her a moment later. He smelled faintly of smoke and carbon and she wondered what had happened on the mission.

A single finger was gentle as it pulled her hair away from her face and she forced herself to keep up the ruse that she was sleeping. After a moment, she listened as he left and rolled over onto her back, eyes burning illogically with tears.

_ Emotions are a liability and relationships are dangerous. _

Persephone didn’t know where she had heard that, but it seemed particularly appropriate. Perhaps it would be better if she wasn’t there, if or when they docked on the Citadel that she simply vanished on to the station. It would be easy to get lost in the throngs of people. Would they look for her? Most likely, but not for any sentimental reasons. The last thing they needed was a Cerberus science project on the loose.

Not that it mattered. She had a feeling she would soon be either dead as a precaution, or in an Alliance lab for testing.


	5. Chapter 5

Persephone was reading when Shepard called her to the armory and she paused for a moment before turning off the datapad and hopping down from the crate she was sitting on, heading up the stairs and taking the elevator down one floor to the shuttle bay. It had been a couple days since she had woken up in James’s arms in the Crew Lounge, and while she wasn’t avoiding him, she wasn’t actively seeking him out, either. She had formed for herself a nice little routine, most her days and nights were spent down in her little area, only venturing out when needed.

Stepping into the shuttle bay, she stopped as she looked at Shepard standing there in front of a few crates pushed together to form a platform, a variety of weapons from heavy pistols to shotguns laid out in front of her.

“Pick your poison.” She said, gesturing to the weapons and Persephone gave her a wary look.

“You really want to trust me with a gun, Shepard?” She asked.

“Absolutely. Now, pick your weapon.” Shepard said and Persephone approached the makeshift table, looking over the guns. Her memory poked at her that these were all wrong, it’s not what she should be using, but she pushed the feeling away. Persephone bypassed the shotguns completely, as well as the submachine guns, and picked up a sniper rifle she instantly recognized as a M-13 Raptor, but somehow knew that she had never used it. It was familiar, though. She checked the sights, noting that it it carried no thermal clip, and set it back down again. The Mattock was next, and like the Raptor it was familiar, but she had never used it. It was also sans thermal clip, all the guns probably were for safety reasons.

Picking up a heavy pistol, she tooked it over and set it aside.

“Okay.” She said and Shepard perked an eyebrow at her.

“That’s it?” She asked, “Just a pistol? No backup weapon?”

“My biotics are my backup.” Persephone said and Shepard have a shrug.

“Fair enough, mine too.” She said, “Help me put these back and we’ll go onto Phase Two.”

“Do I want to know how many “phases” there are?” She asked and the other woman thought for a moment.

“Three, no, four. Maybe five.” She said and they put the guns back in the weapon lockers except for the pistol she had chosen, securing them again. They went back over to the table and Shepard brought up her omnitool. “You know what dressing a weapon is?”

“Taking it apart and putting it back together again?” She asked and she nodded.

“You have thirty seconds to dress that Carnifax. Starting...now.” She started the countdown her omnitool and Persephone got to work, her mind going blissfully blank until she was done, setting it back on the table. “And you did it in twenty, not bad. N7 quals required fifteen.”

“What’s Phase Three?” Persephone asked.

“Firing range to test accuracy. There’s one on the Citadel that C-Sec has that I got us permission to use, I can’t get you into the Spectre range.” Shepard said, “We’ll be there in about a day.”

“What’s this all about Shepard?” She asked and the Commander gave her a long look.

“I spoke to Admiral Hackett.” She said, “He’s a little wary, but ordered that I test your combat skills.”

“Are you planning on taking me on missions?” She asked and she gave another shrug.

“Possibly, let’s see how you do in the other Phases of your evaluation.”

“Phase Four?”

“Hand to hand.”

"Phase Five?”

“Phase Five,” She gave a small smile, “Phase Five I was thinking about letting you loose in the Armax Arena. There’s no substitute for real combat, of course, but they come pretty close. Sound good?”

“I guess so.” She said with a shrug and movement caught her eye. Looking around Shepard, she saw James by his station, lying on his work out bench doing sit ups. His shirt was thrown onto a crate and a layer of sweat made his skin shine in the lighting. There was a moment where she just watched the way his abdominal muscles moved under his skin before she caught Shepard giving her a look, a sly smile on her face. “What?”

“Yeah, it's impressive.” She admitted, “It's nice to look at as long as you don't touch.”

“Please,” Persephone said with a rude sound, “I'm pretty sure I've never...touched before and I wouldn't know what to do.”

“You really don’t remember anything of your life before the facility?”

“I don’t remember anything of my life  _ in _ the facility.”

“Fair enough.” Shepard said, “I’ve been having Liara and EDI try to find something about you, but with the war and so many lost or missing…” She let it trail off.

“It’s a long shot, I know, but thank you.” Persephone said, “The Project started around the time Cerberus revived you, right? That’s what EDI told me.”

“Yeah, and at that time the Collectors were abducting entire human colonies.” Shepard said, “If you were from one of those colonies and then they got hit, there wouldn’t  _ be _ anyone left that would be looking for you.”

“So you’re stuck with me.” Persephone said and Shepard snorted in amusement.

“Looks like.”

“Thank you, Shepard.” Persephone said, “For everything.”

“Don’t worry about it, kiddo.” She said, reaching out to touch her shoulder, “And we’ll find something eventually. Even no intel is good intel.”

“Maybe something will come up when we get to the Citadel.” Persephone said, “It’s an extreme long shot, but maybe someone recognizes me.”

“Maybe. I have a few things I need to do down in the refugee area, come with me and we’ll see what happens.” Shepard said, “There’s things I have to do to prepare, see you later?”

“You know where I’ll be.” Persephone said and she touched her shoulder one last time before leaving the shuttle bay. Her attention was drawn back over to James, seeing that he switched to pull-ups and she watched his back muscles flex and cord. He paused, looking over his shoulder and she looked away quickly, going to the maintenance table with the Carnifax and taking it apart again, going over all of the individual parts and pieces.

“You’ve been avoiding me.” She turned, James now standing behind her still without his shirt, arms crossed over his chest.

“Have not.” She objected, copying his stance and he snorted, advancing on her until she backed into the table, his hands going to grip the edges. Warmth emanated from his skin and she curled her fingers around the edge of the table to keep from touching him.

“You’re blushing just a little bit.”

“Am not.” She said, fully aware of the heat in her face. He moved closer, leaning down, his tongue darting out to wet his lips. Persephone suddenly ducked down, darting out from under his arm and going to the elevator, fleeing the shuttle bay quickly. James gave a sigh when she was gone, hanging his head.


	6. Chapter 6

She felt the moment they docked, the ship shuddering and the persistent hum of the drive core ceasing as it powered down. Setting the datapad aside, Persephone hopped down off the crate, slipping the thin shoes on over her bare feet and heading up to the elevator. Shepard was waiting for her when she got off at the CIC, other crew members ready to take their short leave as the Normandy was restocked and resupplied.

“Ready, kiddo?” Shepard asked and she nodded. “Let’s see what we can find out.”

They left the ship together, Persephone hesitating as they reached the press of people outside the airlock. It was only Shepard’s hand on her shoulder that kept her moving forward. They were just about to call a shuttle when her omni-tool beeped and she brought it up, looking over a message.

“Change of plans, apparently.” Shepard said, “Karin has set up for you more in depth scans of your implants and a more intensive physical including blood work. They’re waiting for you in Huerta Memorial. She’s put me down as family and herself as your primary, so they’ll share the results with us.”

“Fantastic, I’m going to get poked again.” She said, a sinking feeling starting in the pit of her stomach.

"I’ll stay with you throughout the entire process, if you want, but there is someone in Huerta that I want to visit.”

“I’ll...I’ll let you know.” She said and Shepard called up a shuttle to the Presidium that would take them right to Huerta. She caught Shepard giving her looks from time to time out of the corner of her eye, but she kept her focus on the scenery flying by outside. When the shuttle landed, she waited until the Commander opened the door before getting out, heading into the hospital even though it was the last place she wanted to go.

Persephone stood off to the side as Shepard checked them in at the front desk and soon after, a nurse led them back to the exam rooms.

“Get undressed and change into that, Persephone, I’ll be outside.” The Asari nurse said delicately, gesturing to an exam gown and she left the room.

“I’ll come back in when the nurse does.” Shepard said, reaching out and squeezing her hand before leaving as well.

Persephone stood there for a while, staring at the examination gown as if it were going to attack her before turning her mind off, getting undressed and putting on the gown.

“Okay.” She called out, sitting on the exam table and the nurse and Shepard came back in.

“Persephone, we’re going to start off scanning your implants. If you could lay down, please?” The nurse said and she did, laying down on the exam table and watching as a piece of machinery with a curved arm on a track was wheeled over, pressed against the side of the table.

“Kiddo, do you want me to stay?” Shepard asked.

“If you don’t want to, you don’t have to.” Persephone said and there was a pause.

“I’ll stay.” Shepard said and went around to the other side of the table, pulling a stool over and sitting down as the machine started up. During the exam, Persephone gripped the edge of the table tightly, her knuckles white and Shepard took her hand in both of her own, letting her cling to her to ground herself. Fear came off her in waves, her biotics flickering over her skin sporadically. Her fingers clenched as the nurse drew blood and a single tear gathered in the corner of her eye, falling to soak into her hair. “Okay, that’s enough, she’s terrified.”

“I’m f-fine.” Persephone stammered.

“Like hell you are. I’m stopping this.”

“I can handle it.”

“Persephone, look at me.” Her eyes opened and fixed on her, “You don't have to do this. You have the choice now to say no that you never did before. Some come on, get dressed. There's someone I want you to meet and then we'll go, okay?” The other woman nodded, sitting up and the nurse left the room. She stood up, helping Persephone off the exam table and her heart broke a little more when she took off the exam gown, seeing the scars that decorated her body. They reminded her far too much of Jack’s. When she was dressed, Shepard laced an arm around her shoulders and led her from the room. Instead of heading for the entrance, they walked deeper into the hospital to the recovery ward, stopping in front of a door.

“Who’s here?” Persephone asked, still shaking slightly.

“Kaidan was injured by a Cerberus synthetic a while back and he's been recovering. I've told him about you and he wants to meet you.” Shepard said and waved her hand over the sensor, the door opening.

He stood in front of the large window, looking out on the Presidium, his Alliance BDUs fitting him very well. Turning as the door opened, he gave them a warm smile.

“Maddy, hey.” He said, “I was wondering if you were going to show up.” His attention turned to Persephone, “And you must be Persephone, I'm Kaidan Alenko, it's nice to...meet...you...my god.” His smile faded as he looked back and forth between her and Shepard and they exchanged look, giving an identical:

“What?”

“Madeline.” He said as he approached them, “Maddy, she has your nose.”

“What are you talking about Kaidan?” Shepard asked.

“And the shape of her ears, my god you two look like you could be sisters.” Kaidan said and they exchanged another look, not seeing what he was seeing.

“I'm an only child, Kaidan, you know that.” Shepard said, “Hold on a second.” She moved away from them, touching a finger to her comms. “Dr. Chakwas, do you still have Persephone's DNA on file? For giggles can you run it against mine? I'll wait.”

“Shepard?” Persephone asked.

“Hold on a second, kiddo.” Shepard said and her face went stony. “Are you sure? Absolutely sure.” She looked at them then, “Yeah, I have a pretty good idea. Thanks, Karin.”

“Shepard, what's going on?” Persephone asked, that sinking feeling from before starting to form again.

“She's your clone, isn't she.” Kaidan said but she shook her head.

“Not my clone.” Shepard said faintly, “I must have been pregnant when the Normandy was destroyed.”

“Madeline?” Kaidan asked and Shepard went to Persephone, tucking her hair behind her ear with shaking hands and she continued to look at her, her confusion growing.

“Kaidan,” his name came in a sob, “She has your eyes. The shape and color, they're identical.”

“Shepard, are you my mother?” Persephone asked and she nodded. “But that's not possible, I'm too old.”

“No, you're not. You're only a little over a year old.” Shepard said, “When I was working with Cerberus, I came across a Krogan Warlord who was able to tank bred Krogan fully grown. Project: Persephone started before that, they must have found you when they were bringing me back and saved you, put you in a kind of stasis.”

“And we were together before the Normandy was destroyed.” Kaidan said, “She has my eyes.”

“So you're my mother, and Kaidan is my father.” Persephone said, trying to put all the pieces together in her head. Looking over, she looked into hopeful eyes identical to her own and she could feel herself withdrawing, pulling away what was happening. “I can’t...I can’t be here right now.” Pushing past her, she ignored the voices calling her name and fled from the hospital.


	7. Chapter 7

They found her long after the Citadel had started it’s night cycle, all the shops closed down and the Keepers out. Sitting down on either side of her on her seat on a ledge overlooking the Presidium, they didn’t say anything, the three of them sitting there in the silence.

“Sorry I ran.” Persephone said, looking down at her hands.

“Don’t be, kiddo.” Shepard said, “You got hit with something big after a not so great day, we understand.”

“Persephone,” Kaidan started, “We don’t expect you to start calling us “mom” and “dad”. We know  _ that _ will take time, if it ever happens.”

“Yeah.” She said, still looking at her hands. “How are you two dealing with it? You just found out you were parents to a Cerberus science project.”

“Honestly, I’m angry as hell.” Kaidan admitted and she looked at him, “Madeline worked for them for almost a year and they never once even  _ hinted _ that they recovered a child? And that that child was alive and well? If we had known about you…” He stopped, taking a breath and letting it out slowly, “If we had known about you, there wouldn’t have been a force in this galaxy that would have kept us from you.” Reaching over hesitantly, she took his hand and he held it tightly.

“Think of it this way,” Persephone said, “I bet you anything I was a fussy baby.” He gave a low chuckle at that, squeezing her hand.

“Yeah, they took care of the difficult parts for us.” Shepard said, “If you were anything like how I was as a toddler, according to your grandmother, I gave whole new meaning to the phrase Terrible Two’s.”

“I have a grandmother?” Persephone asked and she nodded.

“And a grandfather. No aunts or uncles, but plenty of great aunts and uncles. The Shepard Clan is pretty big.” Shepard said.

“The Alenko Family isn’t small either.” Kaidan said, “I have several aunts and uncles, lots of cousins. I’m also an only child, though.” Persephone gave a small sound of amusement and he looked at her, a small smile pulling at his lips. “What?”

“Shepard and I were hoping that we’d find out something about me today, maybe track down my family, or someone who knows me.” Persephone said and Shepard gave an identical sound.

“Mission accomplished.” She said, “Technically, you're a Shepard.”

“Technically I'm a Shepard-Alenko.” Persephone said.

“Persephone Shepard-Alenko.” Kaidan said, “I like the sound of that, we’ll have to get it official, though I doubt there’s a birth certificate. Maddy told me you're a biotic?”

“Yeah, nothing too extreme, though.” Persephone said with a shrug. “Must have been exposed when the first Normandy’s drive core went up.”

“She Threw Garrus out of the room we found her in.” Shepard said with a snort.

“Not hard!” She said defensively, “It was a mini Throw! Not to hurt him, just to...get him out of the room.”

“Was he all right?” Kaidan asked, his expression a mix of worried and amused.

“Yeah, he was fine. His pride was more injured than he was.” Shepard said and pat Persephone’s knee. “Come on, kiddo, we have to get back to the Normandy.”

“Okay.” Persephone said and got to her feet. “Meet you there.” Without another word, she stepped off the ledge, dropping out of sight.

“Persephone!” Shepard and Kaidan both exclaimed, looking down the dead drop.

“What?” She asked, coming back into view, looking up at them, biotics still flickering slightly over her clothes.

“Did...did you float down?” Kaidan asked she shrugged.

“You guys can’t do that?” She asked.

“No!” They exclaimed at the same time and she snorted.

“Lightweights.” There was a subsonic pulse and she came floating up, landing gracefully on the ledge again, her biotics flickering once before extinguishing.

“Now you’re just showing off.” Kaidan said and looked at Shepard, “Your daughter.” Persephone gave a small giggle at that and Shepard pulled her to her side, giving Kaidan a wide cheeky grin.

“Are we leaving immediately, or…” Persephone let the question trail off.

“I still have a few things I need to do here and the Normandy is expecting deliveries tomorrow so we’ll be docked for  _ at least  _ another day.” Shepard said and she nodded.

“That’s great!” Kaidan said, “Let me take you two out to lunch tomorrow, there’s this noodle place on Zakera ward that is absolutely incredible.”

“Ooh, noodles.” Shepard said happily, “How about it, kiddo?”

“I’ve never had noodles before.” Persephone said, somewhat excited at trying something new.

“Shepard, you know what one I’m talking about?”

"I think I do.” Shepard said, “We’ll meet you there at how’s fourteen-hundred? I'm taking her to the c-sec shooting range for marksman testing in the morning.”

“Sounds good to me, fourteen-hundred it is.” Kaidan said with a smile.

“Meet you back at the ship? I want to talk to Kaidan for a bit.” Shepard said and Persephone gave a shrug.

“Sure.” She said, “Kaidan, it was um...nice to meet you.”

“It was nice to meet you too, Persephone.” He said and paused, “How do you feel about hugs?”

“From what I’ve experienced of them, I like them.” Persephone said and he pulled her into his arms for a warm hug which she returned, a small smile on her face. Shepard watched as they parted, her expression soft and Persephone gave them both a short wave as she left, vanishing towards the elevators.

“We have a daughter.” Shepard said when she was gone.

“She seems amazing.” Kaidan said, “They tortured her, didn’t they. Cerberus, I mean.”

“I think so, yeah.” Shepard said, “She has these scars...it breaks my heart. I don’t know why they did it, what they were trying to do. Seeing them...maybe it was better that they took her memories away.”

“But we have a daughter.” He turned her, lacing his arms around her waist and pulling her close, “We made a life, Madeline.”

“Yes, we did.” She said, her hands sliding over his chest to weave her fingers in his hair.

“And while yes, it does matter that we weren’t at least  _ offered _ the opportunity to raise her ourselves,” He said, “She’s with us now and those bastards will never hurt her again.”

“Always looking on the bright side, Kaidan.”

“Well, of course.” He said and leaned in, pressing his lips to hers in a gentle kiss. “I...love you, Madeline.”

“I love you too, Kaidan.”

“It felt good to finally say that.” Kaidan said.

“Come back to the Normandy, Kaidan. I could sure use you.” Shepard said and he sighed.

“I want to, I do, but there are some things that I feel like I need to do here.” He said and she nodded.

“I understand.” Shepard said and she moved to pull away, but his arms tightened around her waist, keeping her close. His kiss surprised her, the gentle gasp pulling him closer and she shivered in his arms as his lips parted hers, his tongue slipping into her mouth to swirl against her own. Need and want slammed into her hard and she found herself pressing against him, fingers skirting over the amp port at the back of his neck and making him groan into her lips.

“Madeline…” He whispered against her lips, “I have a small place nearby, but if you don’t…”

“I don’t know, Kaidan,” Her tone was teasing, “You were pretty injured, are you sure you should be doing strenuous activity?”

“Maddy…” He growled, pulling her into another searing kiss. 

Persephone laid down on the cot below Engineering, her mind sorting through the day's events. She had a family, a mother and father who appeared to care about her, or at least cared that she existed. Kaidan’s anger at not knowing about her had seemed genuine and the way he had hugged her was so warm and caring, as if knowing that she existing and holding her in his arms was a defining moment for him.

She heard the door to Engineering slide open, James’ galloping gait coming down the stairs and she sat up, pulling her legs under her.

“Hey.” He said, giving her a small smile.

“Come to corner me again?” She asked, but her tone was light, teasing, the corner of her lips perking gently.

“Nah.” He said, “You and Shepard were gone for a while.”

“Yeah, we were.” Persephone said, looking down at her hands.

“So what’d you guys find out?” He asked, knowing her and Shepard’s little side mission on the Citadel.

“Quite a bit actually. I have parents.” She said and a wide smile split his face.

“That’s great!” He said, “Who are they? Did you meet them?”

“Oh, yeah, I met them.” She said and laid out what had happened, leaving out the physical exam, starting with Shepard introducing her to Kaidan. He was quiet when she was done and she watched the wheels in his head turn as he processed what she had said.

“Well, damn.” James said finally, “Shepard’s your mom.”

“Yes, she is. Apparently the reason why I can’t remember my life before the facility, is because I didn’t have one. I was...born fully grown a little over a year ago.” Persephone said and he was quiet again, the air in the area becoming uncomfortable as the information settled between them and she could almost watch as he closed himself off.

“I mean, it’s something, right?” He said finally and she nodded.

“James, um...don’t tell anyone?” She asked, “I don’t know what Shepard wants to do with this information, if she wants to tell the crew about me, or keep it close. I’m leaving that up to her.”

“No, absolutely, yeah I won’t tell anyone. It’s not really my thing to tell.” James said, “Uh...I should get back up to the crew deck.”

“By all means, thanks for stopping by.” Persephone said and didn’t look up as he left. Tears burned her eyes and she wiped them away, cursing herself for being so emotional about this. It seemed she would no longer have to watch herself around Vega, the fact that she was a literal lab experiment appeared to have killed any interest he had shown in her. It was better this way, anyway.


	8. Chapter 8

The gun lowered and Persephone looked at the target with a pained expression. She hadn’t completely missed, most of the time. Her accuracy was best when the target was closest, but the farther away it got, the more she missed or hit wounding shots. Looking over at Shepard, she saw her expression guarded.

“Honestly, I’ve seen worse from some Alliance recruits.” Shepard said and Persephone set the gun down on the stand littered with thermal clips.

“I know how to use it, take it apart and put it back together, but I can’t shoot worth a damn? What kind of training is that?” The question was rhetorical and she ejected the spent thermal clip.

“The Carnifax has a kick, maybe you just need something with less recoil, or maybe a heavy pistol isn’t your thing at all despite what you might think. We can try the M8 Avenger? Yeah, it’s an assault rifle, but it’s a good beginner weapon with low recoil.” Shepard suggested and they went over the gun locker, putting the Carnifax back in the case it had been in when they took it from the Normandy. The two women looked over the array of guns before Shepard pulled the assault rifle from the rack, loading a clip into it. She took it from her and went back over to the stand, shouldering the weapon and letting off controlled bursts with squeezes of the trigger. “That’s a little better.”

“Not by much.” Persephone said, ejecting the clip.

“A little practise, and you’ll be fine. Besides, there are plenty of biotics who can’t shoot their way out of a paper bag and solely use their abilities in combat. We can keep you in a support role on missions.”

“I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but you should  _ not _ be taking me out on missions.” Persephone said, “I can barely shoot! I’ll be a liability!”

“Not the world saving missions, obviously, but the snatch and grab, or raid missions, you’ll be just fine on. The Primarch has one I think you’ll be good for, a Turian patrol was shot down over Tuchanka and he wants us to locate survivors. Once the Normandy is done getting restocked, we’ll be heading there, we should have a good fix on their location by then.” Shepard said, “Come on, let's get this cleaned up and go meet Kaidan for lunch.” They picked up the spent thermal clips that have since cooled, dumping them in a bin to be recycled.

It was about a 20 minute taxi ride to Zakera Ward from where they were and the trip was relatively easy. “Hey, kiddo, there's something I want to ask you, but I'll spare you the aggravation and embarrassment and not ask you in front of Kaidan.”

“Okay.” Persephone said apprehensively. “Ask away.”

“Is there something going on between you and Lieutenant Vega?”

“No.” She answered quickly, perhaps a bit too quickly.

“Are you sure? Because scuttle butt---”

“Scuttle butt?”

“Ship talk for rumors. Anyway, there's some talk about how you guys are getting a little cozy?” Shepard asked.

“Things change.” She said, looking out the window and Shepard was quiet for a moment.

“I'm sorry.”

“Don't be.” Persephone said. “Even if he was serious about it, which I doubt he was, like I said, things change.”

“As long as you’re okay.”

"I’m fine, Shepard.” Persephone said and the mom-in-training Commander gave a sigh, “You’ve known you’re my mom for twenty-four hours, don’t think you have to jump in with the boy talk.” She gave her a small smile and Shepard shrugged, her own embarrassed smile pulling at the corners of her lips.

“You know Kaidan is going to pull all kinds of dad moves on you, right?” She asked and Persephone snorted.

“He seemed the type.”

“He is  _ absolutely  _ the type.” Shepard said, “Real talk, though. Kaidan is a dyed in the wool family man, we were talking about starting a family before the Normandy went down and well…”

“Here I am.” Persephone said and Shepard reached over, taking her hand and squeezing it gently.

“Here you are.” She said, “He’s so happy you exist and he wants to get to know you.”

“There’s really not much to get to know, honestly.” She said with a shrug. “Born and raised in a lab with very little outside interaction, I don’t know how I know almost all of the stuff I do and what I  _ can _ remember doesn’t tell me anything about my life in that place, however short it might have been. I’m still learning my likes and dislikes, and I solve my problem of limited social skills by limiting my time around people.”

“Yeah, EDI tells me you don’t venture out from below Engineering much.”

“Avoiding people is easy when no one wants you around.” Shepard wasn’t able to reply to that seeing as it was at that moment that they landed on the Zakera Ward taxi pad. The doors lifted and Persephone got out, looking around the mill of people as Shepard transferred credits for the trip.


	9. Chapter 9

Persephone stared down into the bowl of...whatever it was that Kaidan had ordered her as she hadn’t made head or tails of the menu. It appeared to be soup of some kind, filled with thick, white noodles, vegetables, pieces of fish and a whole egg boiled in the highly fragrant broth. The server had warned her that the stoneware bowl it was presented in was very hot, giving her a pair of chopsticks and a shallow oval spoon.

“Are you going to try it?” Kaidan asked, looking at her with a gentle smile.

“I’m waiting.” Persephone said.

“For?” He asked.

“I don’t know.” She said in response and he gave a snort, reaching over and grabbing the spoon and the chopsticks, deftly picking up a long string of noodle and swirling it into the utensil, dipping it into the bowl to gather some of the broth.

“Try that.” He said, handing it to her and she took it from him, giving it a look then him before slurping down the noodle. There was a pause, and just for a moment her face lit up in a pleasantly surprised smile before she carefully schooled her expression again.

“It’s very good.” She said once she had swallowed the mouthful, “I like it.”

“I knew you would.” Kaidan said, “It’s one of my favorites, and you can let yourself enjoy it, you know.”

“When I enjoyed something, it was taken away.” She said, looking down at the bowl again, stirring the contents with the tip of the spoon.

“This won’t be taken away, I promise.” Kaidan said, “Except maybe to get wrapped to go in case you don’t finish it.” She gave a small smile at that, forgoing the use of the chopsticks and using a supplied fork to spear a piece of fish, humming slightly in contentment as she ate it.

“Shepard?” Persephone said and she made a small sound of acknowledgement, watching the interaction between the two with a small smile. “Are you aware we’re being recorded? Outside the restaurant, video drone and a woman in a dark dress.” She said it without looking up and Shepard scowled, craning in her seat to look behind her.

“Son of a--I’ll be right back.” Shepard said and got up from her seat, “Kaidan, don’t touch my katsu!”

“Of course, Shepard.” He said and waited until she was gone before grabbing a piece of delicately fried chicken, eating it quickly as Persephone giggled.

Shepard left the restaurant, heading for the familiar reporter, the light on the video drone turning on as she came close.

“Commander Shepard,” The woman said, “Khalisah bint Sinan Al-Jilani, Westerlund--”

“I know who you are, Khalisah, what’re you doing here? Don’t you have more important things to do than broadcast me having lunch?” Shepard asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Who’s the young woman, Shepard?” Khalisah asked, “She has a remarkable resemblance to you and Major Alenko.”

“None of your business.” Shepard said, “Get lost before I have C-Sec remove you, they owe me more than a few favors.”

"How do you justify having a carefree lunch date with Major Alenko and...whoever that is while Reapers tear apart our galaxy? Shouldn’t you be doing something about that?” Khalisah said, her tone angry and accusing.

“The Normandy is being restocked, we leave in the morning, so forgive me if I want to spend what little downtime I have with people I care about.” Shepard said.

“Someone you care about? Who is she to you, Shepard?”

“Like I said, none of your damn business. Now, if you’ll excuse me.” She turned on her heel and headed back into the restaurant, retaking her seat and shooting Kaidan a look when she saw that she was missing some of her meal.

“What?” He asked with a shrug. “It was Persephone.”

“I had one piece! One!” Persephone objected with a smile, “You had like, three!”

“Did you like it?” Shepard asked.

“Yeah, it was pretty good.” Persephone admitted with a shrug, “Do you want some of mine? Will that make it better?”

“I’ll be stealing from both of you, thank you very much.” Shepard said and set about taking noodles and fish from Persephone’s bowl and pieces of the sushi rolls Kaidan had ordered, making up for her pilfered food. Persephone’s wide smile suddenly faded as she looked towards the door, a small scowl appearing between her brows. “Persephone?”

“Batarian.” She said simply and they both looked at the lone Batarian that had entered the restaurant, pushing past the hostess, her shout attracting attention. “Shepard…” The Batarian stopped a ways away, turning to face their table, but not coming any closer. The jacket he was wearing fell open, revealing a vest strapped with many blinking disks, wires vanishing up the sleeve to the small control in his hand.

Persephone grabbed a steak knife from the table, flipping it in her hand so she was holding the blade and turned in her seat.

“For Ara--!” His head snapped back and he crumpled to the floor, the restaurant knife sunk to the hilt between his lower set of eyes. It had happened so suddenly that no one moved, no one breathed and Shepard looked at Persephone, seeing her standing, arm still extended from throwing the knife.

“My god.” Kaidan said, and Persephone seemed to come back to herself, her arm dropping and her eyes darting around the restaurant, seeing the shocked expressions and the dead body on the floor. “Persephone?”

“I don’t--I can’t--” She stuttered, color draining from her face and faint tremors racking her body. “I have to--” She ran from the restaurant, the hostess jumping out of the way.

“Kaidan.” Shepard said, getting up from her chair.

“I’ll take care of it. Go.” He said and she chased after her.


	10. Chapter 10

Shepard lost her in the crowd and she desperately scanned the press of people for an unruly mop of dark curls, an ill-fitting C-Sec hoodie,  _ something _ , but saw nothing.

“Damnit.” She hissed and opened her comm, “EDI, can you get a fix on Persephone's omnitool?”

_ “Yes, Shepard. There are also C-Sec reports about an attempted suicide bombing from a Batarian Extremist at the restaurant where you and she were dining with Major Alenko?” _

“She killed him before he could detonate his vest and I need to find her. Where is she?” Shepard asked and there was a pause.

_ “C-Sec filed a report of a young woman matching Persephone’s description who surrendered herself stating that she had killed a Batarian.” _

“She’s at C-Sec headquarters on Zakera?”

_ “Yes, Shepard.” _

“Thanks, EDI!” The taxi pad to the lower levels had a line, so with a sound of frustration she ran for the stairs, running down them two at a time, going through the different levels until she got to C-Sec, the Turian officer at the desk jumping up as she approached. “Where is she?”

“Commander Shepard?” The officer asked.

“The woman who just turned herself in.” She said, “Where is she?”

“She came in confessing to a murder, so we arrested her and placed her in a holding cell.” He said, “It wasn’t until after we filed the report that we received word of the attempted bombing.”

“Are you going to book her?” Shepard asked and he gave a small sound.

“We should be offering her a job.” He said.

“Can I see her?”

“We told her she can leave, but she hasn’t moved.” He said, “She’s down the hall a bit.”

“Thank you.” She said as she moved past him, not really hearing his response. The officer at the door snapped to attention and waved their hand over the sensor, the door opening. Shepard’s eyes immediately went to the interrogation platform, but it was empty.

“I’m over here.” The voice was small, low, and she looked over, breathing a sigh of relief as she saw Persephone curled up in a dark corner, knees pulled to her chest.

“Hey, kiddo.” She said, going over and sitting down next to her, back against the wall. “C-Sec said you’re free to go, you know.”

“I killed that Batarian.”

“Yes, you did.” Shepard said, “By killing him, you saved lives. Yours, mine, Kaidan’s, and everyone in that restaurant.”

“I could have incapacitated him. Destroyed the detonator, taken out his hand or arm with that knife but I didn’t, I killed him.” Persephone said, her voice wavering, and Shepard sighed.

“Kiddo, I’m not going to belittle what you’re going through right now. Taking a life, especially the first time, is rough, only someone with serious issues wouldn’t feel guilt or remorse over that.”

“I can barely remember doing it, I remember the knife in my hand and then…” She shrugged.

"You were acting on instinct.”

“To  _ kill?” _

“To  _ protect _ .” Shepard said, “You protected your dad and I, and everyone in that room. This is my fault, anyway.”

“How so?” Persephone asked, looking at her.

“He didn’t get to finish, but I’m pretty sure he was going to say ‘For Aratoht.’.”

“What’s Aratoht?”

“Aratoht is--or rather  _ was _ \--a Batarian colony in the Viper Nebula. About eight months ago, all three hundred thousand Batarians on the planet died when the Alpha Relay was destroyed to keep the Reapers from coming through.” Shepard said.

“How was it destroyed?”

“I drove an asteroid the size of a small moon into it.” Shepard said, “The Hegemony was pissed that I basically got off with house arrest and a slap on the wrist, but when the Reapers arrived, Batarian space was hit first and well....” She trailed off and after a moment there was a rustle of cloth as Persephone leaned against her, head laying on her shoulder. Her arm lifted so she could wrap it around her and Persephone tucked into her side, Shepard resting her cheek against her hair. They both looked up as the door opened again, Kaidan standing there with a bag.

“Hey, so we’ll eat for free there from now on.” He said and hefted the bag, “And I got our food to go.”

“Ready to go, sweetheart?” Shepard asked and Persephone nodded. The two women got to their feet and headed for the door, but Kaidan handed the bag of food off to Shepard so he could pull Persephone into his arms for a crushing hug which she returned. When they parted, she was sniffling slightly, her eyes shiny with unshed tears and he pulled her back into his arms for a gentler hug, hand at the back of her head.

“You did the right thing, okay? I know it doesn’t feel like it, but it was the right thing.” His voice was low, soothing. “I know it’s stupid, especially given what’s going but...I don’t know, I wanted to protect you from this. My child shouldn’t be killing people.”

“Hackett’s ordered me to test her combat skills,” Shepard said, “See if she’s mission worthy.”

“Does he know that she’s…” Kaidan let it trail off, but they both knew what he meant.

“I haven’t told him, and I probably won’t.” Shepard said, “It’s really none of his business.”

“Keep her away from Reaper forces.” Kaidan said and Persephone pulled away from him, wiping tears from her face and clearing her throat.

“Reapers are easy; they’re mindless, soulless. There’s nothing in them that’s even remotely redeemable.” Persephone said, “And Cerberus….” She paused, “Well, I think I’ll have no problem with killing Cerberus troops. They might be human, but their humanity is long since gone.”

“Nicely put.” Shepard said.

“I have my moments.” She said with shrug. 

“Still hungry?” Kaidan asked, “You still have quite a bit of your soup left.”

“Not really,” Persephone said and they made for the door, “But I can take it back to the Normandy, yeah?”

“Of course.” Shepard said, “You need to eat more than energy fruit bars and Tupari, Persephone.”

“That's not healthy,” Kaidan said, “Especially for a biotic. You need to eat more to sustain yourself.”

“I know that, I do, it’s just…” She left it trail off, “I don't know.”

“Promise me you’ll at least  _ try _ to eat more?” Kaidan asked and she gave a sigh.

“I promise.” She said and they went to leave C-Sec, but as they passed by the Officer's desk, a video caught her eye. It was of the restaurant and she watched as she grabbed the knife and threw it, killing the Batarian before he was able to detonate his vest.

“All things considering,” Shepard said, as she and Kaidan watched it with her, “It was a nice throw. You can’t shoot worth a damn, but you’re good with knives.”

“Why would--” She cast a look at the C-Sec officers, “ _ Those people _ train me in knives and not guns? What kind of training is that?”

“I don’t know, sweetheart.” Shepard said, “But it looks like I might have to change your training a bit. Can’t even imagine how you’ll be with hand-to-hand.”

“Damn good, probably.” Kaidan said, “Knife training? That’s all up close work.”

“But what if they didn’t teach me to stop?” Persephone wondered, “No stopping when the other person yields, just…”

“Yeah.” Shepard said and Kaidan grabbed Persephone’s hand again, squeezing it gently.

“I hate how much I don’t know about myself.”

“We’ll get it figured out, kiddo.” Shepard said and they left C-Sec, heading for the taxi pad. Kaidan gave her one last hug, he and Shepard kissing briefly before they parted. They needed to go to the Docking Bays and he was needed back up on the Presidium.

She was quiet on the taxi ride back, container of soup still warm in her hands. The taxi landed and she got out as Shepard paid and they made their way through the civilians and military crowding around the docking bay.

“Shepard.” She had that tone again, like the one she had in the restaurant, letting her know trouble was coming.

“Ah hell.” Shepard said, seeing the mass of press around the airlock to the Normandy. They hadn’t seen them yet which was a blessing, so Persephone pulled her hood up, obscuring her features and clutched her container tightly so not to lose it.

“Commander Shepard!” The call went out and they pushed forward as they were suddenly surrounded.

_ “Is this the girl that killed the Batarian?” _

_ “Who do you think he was?” _

_ “Was this an isolated incident, or do you suspect this is retaliation from the Hegemony?” _

_ “Where did she receive her training?” _

_ “Where did you recruit her?” _

“Make a fucking hole!” The call was booming, fierce, and the press jumped back as James and Cortez pushed through, the large marine parting the wave easily. James wrapped an arm around her shoulders, shielding her from the press of people and camera drones as faint tremors began. She leaned into him gratefully, letting him guide her back to the ship as she kept her head down. She felt Cortez at her back, keeping the reporters from crowding behind them and Shepard wrapped her arm around her waist. Safety was forward, not back. Persephone kept having to remind herself of that, the press getting more persistent the closer they got to the airlock door. C-Sec was waiting for them, keeping the reporters back as they finally reached the secured zone and the doors closed behind them, the sound of people cutting off abruptly.

“Fucking _pendejos._ ” James growled out, his arm staying around her shoulders.

“What’re you two doing here?” Shepard asked.

“EDI said you might need some help.” Steve said with a shrug.

“Thank you.” Persephone said, her voice small and trembling slightly. 

“Are you okay?” James asked, turning her to face him.

“Lots of people make me nervous.” She said.

“I know,  _ linda _ .” James said and moved as if he was going to take her into his arms, but she stepped away from him, heading into the ship with a quickly muttered:

_ “I need to be alone.” _

Shepard hadn’t failed to notice the interaction, or how James had protected her and went to him, standing in front of him with her arms folded over her stomach.

“I asked her and she said there was nothing going on between you two.” She said, “Is there something starting between you two?” James paused, looking at the airlock then down, reaching up to run his fingers through his hair.

“No, Lola,” He said, “There’s nothing going on.”

“Vega--” Steve started, but stopped when he threw up a hand on his way back onto the ship.

“Cortez?”

  
“Don't look at me, Commander,” Steve said, “I don't know what's going on with him these days.”


	11. Chapter 11

Persephone sat quiet in the back of the shuttle, the borrowed armor a bit uncomfortable, making her have to tug in places. Shepard said they would get her outfitted with her own, but for now, standard issue Alliance armor would have to suffice. James stood at the other end, hand up and grasping the cargo netting stretched across the ceiling. Turbulence caused the shuttle to buffet every so often and she could hear Shepard and Cortez talking up at the helm.

“Nervous?” She looked up, seeing James standing close and she shrugged.

“A little, I guess.”

“You’ll be fine.” He said, “Shepard said you're on support duty; barriers and shit?”

“Crowd control, too.” Persephone said, “Thinning the herd, so to speak.”

“Well don’t thin this herd and you’re good.” He said and she snorted. His armor was heavy plating, making him look even more massive in the chest and shoulders, narrowing down to a tapered waist and trim hips, balanced out by heavy braces around his thighs. An assault rifle was secured on his back, a shotgun in the clips against the base of his spine and she touched her own pistol lightly, Shepard having insisted that she carry a gun even though she was a poor shot. The Commander had programmed a blade into her omnitool, showing her how to activate it if she needed to.

“We’re approaching the LZ.” Shepard called back and Persephone stood from her seat, going to move around him to the hatch. The shuttle bucked and Vega wrapped an arm around her waist, gloved hands going to the steely plates on his chest as he pulled her against him to steady her. Heat rushed to her face as she looked up at him, and she cursed the fact that she had put her hair up in a twist, as she was unable to hide her blush. He stared down at her, unfairly hazel eyes darted down then back up as she wet lips suddenly dry, his arm tightening around her waist. She could swear she felt the heat of his hand even through his glove and the high density weave of her undersuit.

His lips pulled into a small smirk as he looked down at her and he leaned in so he could whisper without the others hearing.

“You’re flaring.” He said, “Your eyes have gone a little...swirly.”

“It’s n-nerves.” She stammered and his smile widened. “About the mission.”

“About the mission.” He repeated, “Right.” She wanted to grab him and kiss him, see for herself if his lips were as soft as they looked, but he was just playing with her. Empty flirting that didn't mean anything. The reality of it hit home and she pushed away from and around him, joining Shepard as she came from the front. This feigned interest he kept showing was just a game to him, that much was obvious. He was toying with her whether for his own amusement or for some other reason, she didn't know.

It was time to start distancing herself from him before she got hurt.

The shuttle didn’t so much as touch down as hover within jumping distance of the ground and the hatch lifted. The heat and dust of Tuchanka was quick and oppressive and Persephone gave a moment’s pause before she followed Shepard and Vega out of the shuttle, dirt and rocks crunching under her boots.

“There’s a Turian platoon somewhere in these ruins along with Reaper patrols.” Shepard said, “EDI, can you get us a line to Lieutenant Victus?”

_ “I can try, Shepard, but the connection is bad.” _

“Lieutenant Victus, this is Commander Shepard of the Normandy, I need you to send up a flare so we know your location.” She said and there was a small boom before a flare arced into the sky. “I see it, we’re on our way, just hold tight.”

“Lola?” James asked.

“They’re pinned by Reaper forces and there’s pockets of soldiers along the crash path.” She said and pulled the rifle from her back, activating her tech armor. “Let’s move out. Persephone?”

“I’m ready.”  She said and Shepard gave her a nod before they started moving forward.

Persephone mostly stayed away from her pistol, using her biotics to defend the others. She Threw Marauders over cliffs or into crumbling pillars, used Warp fields to tear apart Husks and put a Barrier on James when he decided to rush off by himself, Shepard’s sound of frustration letting her know that this has happened before.

She projected a biotic field over a group of Turian soldiers, the blast from the Harvester against the barrier feeling like a punch to the chest.

“Persephone!” Shepard called out, “We got forces inbound, get to cover!”

“If I move, the barrier will drop!” She called back.

“Now, Persephone! That’s an order!” Persephone’s shields buffeted as she was fired upon by Cannibals and Ravagers and just as the VI in her visor beeped at her to let her know her shields were about to fail, she dropped the barrier and let out a biotic wave, blasting the Reaper forces away and falling back behind cover.

“You okay, kiddo?” Shepard called over to her.

“I’m fine!” She responded, her implant searing. The Harvester flew off and she sat there a minute while Shepard checked the soldiers’ status. James came over and reached a hand down and she took it, letting him help her to her feet.

“You alright?” He asked and she nodded. Pulling open a pouch on his belt, he dug out a fruit bar and handed it to her. “Eat this, you're looking a little pale.”

“Thank you.” She said, taking it from him, ripping open the wrapper and taking a bite. “Ugh, cherry.”

“Well I'm sorry,  _ linda _ , we didn't have any strawberry pineapple ones.” He said with a smile, “ _ Someone  _ ate them all.”

“Well why'd you have to go and do that, Vega? Rude.” She teased back and he gave a small chuckle.

“Hold still, you have bit of um...dirt on your--” He reached out, holding the side of her jaw as his thumb brushed dirt off her cheek. His thumb slowed then stopped as he stared down at her and there was a small tug as he pulled her closer even as he leaned in.

"You guys good?” Shepard’s voice snapped the moment and they pulled away from each other, Vega looking away.

“We're good.” He said, clearing his throat, and Persephone moved away from him, munching on her fruit bar as her cheeks flamed, not even tasting the slightly chemical cherry flavor anymore.


	12. Chapter 12

Lieutenant Victus and his remaining platoon were holding valiantly against the Reaper forces even as their rescue was pinned down by enemy fire. There was a sickening crunch as Persephone Pulled and Threw at the same time, two Ravagers colliding into a pulpy mass. A Harvester circled overhead and they ducked down out of sight, the Turians across the way doing the same.

“Shepard.” Persephone said and she looked at her, “I have an idea.”

“Am I going to like this idea?” She asked.

“Probably not.” She admitted and dove out of cover, pulling her boot knife. “Cover me!”

“Persephone!” Both Shepard and James called after her, but she paid them no mind, running across the ruins, dodging enemy fire and slashing any that got in her way. She threw the blade, imbedding it in the chest of a Cannibal that moved to intercept her, pulling a jagged piece of piping from a pile of rubble.

Running up a toppled column, she leapt as the Harvester flew past, landing on it’s back. It was everything they could do to keep watch on her while also the Reaper forces. Grabbing a piece of tech protruding from its back, she held on as it bucked and swerved, trying to unseat her. It gave a mechanical screech as she jammed the pipe into the top of its head and there was a shimmer of biotics. Persephone jumped from the Harvester as it’s head exploded in a spray of tech and gore, blown apart from the inside from a biotic pulse, the pipe used as a conduit. However, she wasn’t able to get far enough away as the body detonated and she got caught in the blast, the shockwave flinging her across the ruins. She hit hard against the side of the crashed ship and fell to the ground at the feet of the Turian soldiers, not moving.

“Persephone!” Nightmares ran through Shepard’s head as she leapt over stone and barriers in her way to the soldiers. Broken spine, crushed skull, massive internal injuries, anything that could cost Persephone her life. She wanted to be angry at her, wanted to curse and rage, but she was too worried, and she had to admit, a little impressed.

A Turian was helping her to her feet when she got to her and she breathed a sigh of relief. Her armor was a little banged up and tendrils of dark hair had escaped the twist, but she seemed relatively unharmed.

“Ow.” She said when she got to her, leaning heavily against the Turian that had helped her up, hand gripping his forearm.

“Commander Shepard, I’m Lieutenant Tarquin Victus.” The Turian said and Shepard looked him over. She didn’t see a family resemblance to the Primarch, but that didn’t mean much. “I want to thank you for coming to our aid.”

“What happened, Lieutenant?” Shepard asked and he sighed.

"I made a bad call.” He said, “There was a confirmed Reaper patrol in the area, so instead of taking the direct route, I aired on the side of caution and entered the ruins. We encountered resistance and with limited room to maneuver…” He let it trail off.

“How is that your fault?” Persephone asked, her voice tight. “We ran into  _ three _ Harvesters on the way to you, any one of those could have taken out your ship and killed you and everyone aboard. Yeah, it went to shit, but your men are alive.”

“I didn’t...think of it like that.” Tarquin said, looking down at her. “What you did was incredible, by the way, are you okay?”

“I’ll be fine,” Persephone said with a small, reassuring smile. “I’ll be covered in bruises tomorrow, but I’ll be fine.”

“Tell me about your mission, Lieutenant.” Shepard said and he turned his attention back to her.

“There’s a bomb, a big one, strapped to the planet and Cerberus is planning on detonating it.” Tarquin said, “The devastation would be astronomical, Commander.”

“We need to stop Cerberus from detonating that bomb.” Shepard said.

“Agreed.” Tarquin said, “But I can not ask my men to complete this mission, we’re a third of what we were, it’d be suicide.”

“You’re abandoning your mission?” Shepard asked, “Do I need to remind you, Lieutenant, that we need Krogan support to fight this war? If this bomb detonates, the Krogan will have to retreat and we lose that support.”

“But my men--”

“Your men need to realize that this is bigger than themselves, that yes, the odds are not in their favor, but their sacrifice ensures that no one else will have go through this.” Shepard said and he sighed. “This is all still fresh, so it won’t be easy, but you have to rally what’s left of your platoon and complete this mission.”

“After you get medical attention.” Persephone said and they looked at her. “Come on, Shepard, half his men can’t even stand and I see---” She looked him over quickly, “Three places where his armor is cracked. We need to get them back to the Normandy so Dr. Chakwas can look them over. The odds will be more in their favor if they don’t go into it injured.”

“She has a point, Lola.” James cut in, “They need to be one hundred percent if they want to pull this off.”

“After you get medical attention.” Shepard conceded, “I’ll call the shuttle, you get your men together. James, please take the Dragonslayer.” He gave a snort and moved to take Persephone from the Lieutenant.

“Come here, Dragonslayer.” He said and Tarquin seemed to hesitate for a moment, but he passed her off to him as Shepard called Cortez for a pick-up.


	13. Chapter 13

The Turians were getting checked over, the small medbay already crowded with the Female Krogan and Mordin with his equipment. Tarquin stayed off to the side in the galley, insisting that his men get looked over first and that his injuries weren’t severe enough to warrant attention. The Primarch had come from the War Room to observe the happenings, Tarquin very pointedly avoiding eye contact with him.

“He’s going to want to talk to you eventually, you know.” Persephone said next to him, having changed out of her armor into a hoodie and pair of sweatpants, her feet bare.

“I know, I’m just hoping he sees it how you did.” Tarquin said, “I still feel like it was a bad call.”

“That’s because it’s the only outcome you went through,” Persephone said shrugging, but grimaced slightly in pain.

“How are you feeling?” He asked, looking over at her.

“I’ll feel a lot worse tomorrow.” She said and reached up slowly, taking her hair down from the twist, rifling through it a little with her fingers to loosen it.

“Spirits.” Tarquin whispered and she looked at him.

“What?” She asked and he looked away, the thin skin of his neck darkening slightly.

“Nothing.” He said, his mandibles twitching. She watched him for a moment before pushing away from the island they had been leaning against.

“I need to take a shower.” She said, going to move away from him.

“Do you need help?” He asked and she whipped back around to look at him, a small smirk pulling at her lips as his eyes widened. “I mean,  _ getting _ to the shower, not with the actual showering. Because you’re a little stiff-- _ sore _ , I mean you're a little  _ sore _ and--Spirits I'm going to stop talking now.” He said, putting a hand to his face as his neck darkened considerably.

“I think I’ll manage.” Persephone said, “But thanks for the offer?” He made a sound, still not looking at her and she chuckled, shaking her head as she walked away towards the elevator. When she was gone, he felt someone watching him and he looked around, seeing Lieutenant Vega staring at him, his expression carefully guarded. He must have seen the whole exchange. He didn’t have the chance to think about why that seemed to bother him as it was then the Primarch came over.

“Tarquin, I need to speak with you about what happened today.” He said and Tarquin gave another sigh.

“Yes, father.”

Persephone was sitting cross legged on the cot when she heard footsteps on the stairs, looking up from the datapad.

“Hey.” She said, seeing Tarquin standing there.

“The AI told me you stayed down here.” He said quickly, “Is it okay if I…”

“Find a seat.” She said and he gave her a grateful look, clearing off a crate and sitting down heavily. “What’s up?”

“The Primarch and I had a nice little talk.” He said.

“How’d it go?”

“He did see it your way.” He admitted, “That taking the long way really was the best decision, despite the casualties.”

“But?”

“But my role as the head of the Ninth Platoon has been altered somewhat.”

“How so?”

“I will no longer lead them in a combat capacity, but in a non-combat tactical role.” Tarquin said, “In a few days, once everyone is patched up and back to where they need to be, one of my men will be promoted to the rank of Lieutenant and will lead what’s left on the field, while I coordinate with them on the Normandy as they scout the area around the bomb site.”

“Okay.” Persephone said, sensing there was more.

“But when the area is sufficiently mapped, I will be joining them on Tuchanka to help diffuse it as I have the most experience with heavy ordinance.”

“How do you feel about this?” She asked, setting her datapad aside and he gave a deflating sigh, his shoulders dropping.

“Relieved? As bad as that sounds.” Tarquin said, “I was never good at front line stuff, was always better in a tactical advisory role. Knowing all the information, seeing every angle of the board and how it all fits together. You know what I mean?” She made a sound, nodding. “And after this is over, I don't know what he'll do with me.”

“I'm sure it'll all work out, Tarquin.” Persephone said, reaching over and laying her hand on his arm. “Did you get checked out by the Doctor?”

“Yes.” He said nodding, “She was very insistent. Honestly, there are Generals who could take a lesson or two from her.”

“How do you feel about being on the Normandy?” Persephone asked.

“This is an amazing ship.” Tarquin said, “There isn’t a Turian on Palaven who hasn’t heard of Commander Shepard or Garrus Vakarian. Stopping Saren Arterius, defeating the Collectors, they’re almost legendary.”

“I had no idea.”

“How could you  _ not _ know? They were all over the extranet last year and a couple of years before that.” Tarquin said and she sighed, giving him a pained expression. “What?”

“I wasn’t...around, a couple of years ago.”

"What?”

“Tarquin, I’m only about a year old.” Persephone said and he blinked at her.

“What?”

“I was genetically modified to fully grown and raised in a laboratory.” She said, “Commander Shepard is my mother, biologically speaking, but I didn’t meet her until a few weeks ago.”

“Did she...know about you?” he asked delicately.

“She didn’t even know I was her daughter until my father noticed physical similarities between us and she had our DNA compared.” Persephone said.

“Who’s your father?”

“Major Kaidan Alenko.”

“The Second Human Spectre is your father.”

“I have his eyes, apparently.” She said with a shrug and he looked away from her.

“Spirits,” He said, “Talk about a pedigree. I thought it was bad that my father is the new Primarch of Palaven.”

“It’s not so bad.” Persephone said, picking at her nails a little. “The term Spectre doesn’t mean anything to me, so to  _ me _ they’re just Madeline and Kaidan.”

“That makes sense.” Tarquin said, “Persephone, can I...ask you something?”

“By all means.”

“Are you bonded with anyone?”

“Bonded?” She asked, her brow furrowing slightly.

“You know…” She continued to stare at him curiously, “Mated.” The skin of his neck darkened again.

“You’re asking if I’m seeing anyone?” She asked and his blush deepened.

“Yes.” Tarquin said and her thoughts immediately went to James, but that was…

“No, I’m not with anyone.” The corners of his mandibles lifted in what might have been a small smile.

“It’s getting late, I should leave you to rest.” Tarquin said and stood from the crate, “Goodnight, Persephone.”

“Goodnight, Tarquin.” She said and watched as he left. When he was gone, she fell back onto the cot, a goofy smile pulling at her lips.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter starts off NSFW. Ye be warned.

She was warm and soft under his hands, biotics flickering over her skin as he brushed his lips along her neck, her hands trembling slightly as she touched him, fingers weaving into his hair and sliding down his back. His name fell from her lips in a whisper and he kissed her, parting her lips with his own and swirling his tongue against hers, groaning at her taste.

Silky legs wrapped around his hips and she arced up to meet him, urging him to take that final step and join them. Their breathing was loud in the silence of the shuttlebay as he reached between them, taking himself in his hand and pressing against her entrance, finding her wet and ready for him, the feel of her making him shudder.

“James, please.” She whimpered and he stared into her amber eyes as he sank into her.

“ _ Dios mio _ , Persephone.” He gasped as she gripped him so hot and tight and he paused for a moment before starting a slow and steady pace, worshipping her like the goddess of her namesake. She moved against him, with him, hips rocking up to meet his and he lengthened his strokes, almost withdrawing from her completely before pushing back into her to the hilt. The sounds she made as he made love to her were music to him, tiny whimpers and gasps that spurred him on, his name tumbling from her lips almost in a prayer.

Taking her hands in his, their fingers laced and he held them above her head, causing her to arch her back and change the angle at which he entered her, making him run over that spot deep inside her again and again. Her legs clenched around his waist, biotics swirling in her eyes and her breathing quickened.

“Open your eyes, Persephone.” He said as they fluttered closed, “I want to see you.” They opened again and he was pulled into the pure silvery blue of her biotics interlaced with the warm honey of her natural hues. One of his hands slid from hers and he held the side of her jaw as he kissed her, swallowing her cries as she neared her peak.

James woke as the alarm on his omnitool went off, set for a couple hours before reveille so he could get in a decent morning exercise before starting his daily duties. The sweaty sheet stuck to his chest and his erection throbbed painfully as it lay thick and heavy on his stomach. A cold shower would take care of it, but so would a more hands on approach.

Closing his eyes, his imagination conjured up a new fantasy of her and he imagined her coming into the shuttle bay and finding him like this, hand wrapped around his length, painfully aroused at the thought of making love to her. She wore her sweater, but her legs and feet were bare and she crawled on top of him, sliding into his lap, her lips soft and insistent as they pressed against his. His hands pushed up her sides, finding her naked under the hoodie and he shed her of it, sitting up and taking the peak of one breast between his lips.

Her fingers wrapped around his length (his own pumping faster now, pleasure tingling across his skin) and he went to take her in his arms, but she pushed him back with enough force to make him bounce a little on the cot. Aligning them, her eyes rolled back when she sank down on him and her hands cupped her breasts as her hips started to pivot and roll against his. Abdominal muscles moved under soft, tawny skin as she rode him and he held her hips, guiding her to a faster pace.

Planting his feet on the cot he pumped up into her (hips rocking as he pumped up into his palm, breathing starting to quicken and becoming uneven), and her hands pressed against his stomach, his name falling from her lips in a sob. Her arms wrapped around his neck as he sat up, burying her face in his shoulder as he rocked up into her, driving her closer and closer to release (his building quick, stomach muscles tightening). 

She came with a cry of his name, slick inner muscles throbbing around him as her hips jerked against him.

James gave a raspy growl as he came, spilling himself into the sheets and over his fingers. He laid there a little bit, coming down from the high of his orgasm, but as his breathing evened and his heart rate slowed, shame slammed into him hard at using Persephone for a masturbatory aid. She deserved better than to be used like some cheap thrill just so he could get his rocks off.

Wiping himself clean on the sheet, he got up and pulled on a pair of shorts, stripping the cot and stuffing the bedding deep into the bag of his dirty laundry. It was still early and he still felt a little restless, so he started his morning exercises, losing himself in his routine.

“Normandy to Vega, come in Lieutenant Vega.” He snapped out of his daze at the voice trying to get his attention.

“What?” He asked, looking at Shepard who was regarding him carefully from across the table in the mess hall.

“You okay, James?” She asked, “You seem a little out of it.”

“Yeah, I'm fine, Lola. Just didn't sleep well last night, is all.” He said and she made a sound.

“I'll take Garrus and Liara on the mission today, you get some rack time.”

“I'm  _ fine _ , Lola.”

“That's an order, Lieutenant.” Her voice was soft, caring, more of a concerned request from a friend than an actual order from his CO.

Bell like laughter cut through the mess hall and he looked over at Persephone and Tarquin sitting together at a table, the wide smile that pulled at her lips brightening the room. The Turian checked his omnitool and got up from the table, Persephone nodding at something he said. He hesitated for a moment, but leaned in, pressing his mouth to her cheek in what might have been a brief kiss and she smiled, her cheeks tinged pink. 

“Those two have gotten cozy.” Garrus said, noticing where he was looking.

“Yes,” Shepard said, “They have.”

“Want me to talk with him?” Garrus offered, “Turian to Turian?”

“You can if you want.” Shepard said, though her tone suggested that he do just that.

“I'll talk to him, not warn him away just...caution him a little.” Garrus said.

“You really care about her, huh Scars?” James asked and he shrugged.

“She’s the daughter of my two best friends, and yes, Shepard told me.”

“And Persephone told me that she told you.” Shepard said to James.

“She asked me not to you know, go spreading it around.” James said, “Not that I was going to.”

“Appreciate it.” Shepard said, “Garrus, tell Liara to suit up, we’ll be over Tuchanka in a bit to shut down that defense cannon Cerberus took over.”

“Got it, Shepard.” Garrus said and left the table, heading for Liara’s office next to the mess.

“James, go get some sleep before you fall over.” Shepard said with a wink and he gave a small snort.

“Okay, Lola.” He said and she got up from the table, taking her tray with her to the galley. James sat there for a little while longer, staring down into his untouched cup of coffee, the mug warm in his hands.

“Hey.” He looked up, seeing Persephone sitting across from him. He didn’t even notice her sit down. It was a good thing he  _ wasn’t _ going on the mission then. “You okay?”

“Yeah, just tired.” He said, “Shepard benched me for the mission today, told me to get some rest.”

“You should, you look exhausted. Not sleeping well?” She asked, concerned, and he paused.

“Weird dreams.”

“About?” She asked and there was another pause. What could he say to that? The truth? That he was kept up last night with dreams of making love to her? It would be so easy to reach across the table and pull her into a kiss, part her lips with his and slip his tongue into her mouth.

“I don’t remember.” He said finally and she made a thoughtful sound.

“Well, get some sleep, James, I hope you sleep well.” She said and got up from the table, James standing with her.

“Heading back down?” He asked and she nodded. “I’ll walk you.”

“You don't have to.”

“I want to.” James said and she gave him a small smile before heading for the elevator, him walking alongside her. “How're you feeling? The bruises starting to fade?” It had been a couple days since they rescued Tarquin’s platoon on Tuchanka.

“Finally.” She said, rolling her eyes and they stepped onto the elevator. “My entire back is lovely shades of yellow and green.”

“First mission I ran with Shepard, I rammed a Cerberus shuttle with the Kodiak, and then crash landed. You want to talk about bruises? If you had seen me without my clothes on…” He made a sound, “Not a pretty sight.”

“You without your clothes on?” She asked, “Stuff of nightmares.” He gave her a look and saw the teasing glint as she peered at him out of the corner of her eye, a smirk pulling at her lips.

“Yeah I walked into that one.” He said and the elevator door opened at the Engineering deck.

“Later, Vega.” She said as she stepped off, “Get some rest.”

“Later, Persephone.”


	15. Chapter 15

It was a couple hours later when James woke up, having crashed out on the Crew Deck instead of the shuttle bay. While he was rested, he was far from refreshed, a shower only serving to clear the cobwebs from his mind. He hadn’t dreamed, thankfully, and he pushed aside this morning's activities as hormones gone rampant. He was just a little frustrated, that was all. There was a cute little Asari dancer at Purgatory that’s been giving him looks whenever he’s gone, maybe he’d buy her a drink next time they were there. It’s been awhile since he’s embraced eternity.

Time to focus.

Shepard, Garrus, and Liara weren’t back from the mission, so he went back down to the shuttle bay, taking stock of their weapons, mods, and thermal clip supply. Running a little low on the clips, not critically, but he put in a requisition anyway to be delivered the next time they docked on the Citadel, their supply would last until then. He went over their armor, looking for cracks in the plates or breaches in the seals; Husks were tough on armor. The set Persephone wore on Tuchanka was still in relatively good condition, but she still needed to get fitted with her own. Another thing that would have to happen next time they docked.

His mind went back to Tuchanka and on how Persephone mainly used her biotics to fight, barely touching the pistol on her hip. With a small smirk, he remembered how a Husk had rushed her but she caught it by the face, activating a Throw and blowing out the back of its head. She looked so sexy with her eyes swirling and biotics shimmering over her armor.

No, no. Focus.

Duties done, and workstation cleaned of pieces of mods and wiring, he headed back up to the crew deck. Maybe he would see if anyone felt like losing credits in a friendly game of poker. The door to the Lounge opened as he approached it and there was the faint sounds of a scuffle.

_ “Tarquin! Stop!” _ His heart lurched at the plea in Persephone’s voice, but then a squeal of laughter cut the air, “Stop, Tarquin! That tickles! Oh my god, stop!” Breathless laughter filled the room, Tarquin having pinned Persephone back on the couch, his face buried in her neck as he gave a prolonged purring trill, nuzzling into her skin.

“You’re lucky it’s me that found you guys like this,” There was a scramble as they separated, a deep blush on Persephone’s face and Tarquin’s neck a deep blue. “And not Shepard or the Primarch.”

“You’re not going to tell them, are you?” Tarquin asked and he gave a small snort.

“Don’t worry about it, man.” James said with an amused smile on his face.

“I’m just going to…” She paused, “Grab some food. Tarquin, are you…”

“Yeah, I’ll join you.” He said and she took his hand, pulling him from the lounge. As she went past, James felt her fingers on his forearm, sliding down to his hand and he squeezed them gently. Then she was gone, Tarquin in tow.

Later that night, the door to the lounge opened, but Shepard didn’t look up from her datapad.

“Commander Shepard.” She looked up then, turning on the barstool.

“Primarch Victus.” She said in return, “What brings you up here?”

“Looking for you, actually.” He said and she raised a brow at him. “There’s no delicate way to say this: I do believe our children have started pre-mating rituals. I believe humans call it “dating”?” Shepard didn’t say anything at that for a long moment, but eventually got up and went behind the bar, grabbing a beer from the small fridge underneath.

“You want something to drink? I have Turian brandy.” She asked and he walked over, sitting down at the bar. She didn’t ask how he knew Persephone was hers, that was turning out to be one of the worst kept secrets on the Normandy.

“I’d love one, thank you.” He said and she snorted, pouring him a few fingers of brandy into a glass. He downed it in one go, his mandibles flaring as he swallowed and put the glass back down again. She poured a little more into the glass and he picked it up, swirling the deep blue liquid around and taking a small sip.

“So,” Shepard started, “The Reapers are invading, we’re about the cure the Genophage, and our kids are dating. The universe has gone to hell, alright.” He gave a small chuckle at that, taking another sip of brandy as she pulled on her beer.

“Thoughts?” He asked.

“If you’re asking what I think about her dating Tarquin?” He nodded, “I honestly don’t care who she’s dating, or what. She could be dating a  _ Vorcha _ and I wouldn’t--wait, no, yeah, I would  _ definitely _ put an end to that one. What about you?”

“Despite my...history with your race, I have no issues with Tarquin dating a human.” Adrien said simply. “In fact, I think they’re good for each other.”

“I’ve never seen Persephone smile this much _ ever _ .” Shepard said.

“And I haven’t heard Tarquin’s laugh since his mother passed.”

“So we let it play out for as long as they take it?”

“So it would seem.” Adrien said.

“Cheers.” Glass clinked together and they took a sip of their respective drinks, falling into a companionable silence. “You do realize that if they get married that we’ll technically be related.”

“Commander, please, I have to sleep at night.”


	16. Chapter 16

The sinking feeling started in Persephone’s stomach the moment she woke. Tarquin’s unit was back from scouting the area, getting all possible vantage points and Tarquin had come up with the best avenue for getting to the bomb and disarming it. Cerberus resistance was a given, and it seemed it would be an uphill battle to the bomb site, both literally and figuratively. The Kelphic Valley was a graveyard of ruined buildings and ancient crashed ships, ruins and rubble creating a veritable maze from the projected LZ to the bomb itself.

Tarquin would be going ahead of them, regrouping with the Ninth and coming in from one direction, while Shepard, Persephone, and James approached from another, keeping them from getting flanked by Cerberus troops.

He said goodbye in the shuttlebay, holding her face in his hands and pressing his mouth to her forehead.

“I don’t like this, Tarquin.” Persephone said, “I have a bad feeling about this.”

“It’ll be fine, Persephone.” Tarquin said,  “Between the Ninth and you and the Commander, that bomb will be disarmed in no time and we’ll be back here.”

“I still don’t like it.” She said, “I just keep getting the feeling that something bad is going to happen.”

“Nothing bad is going to happen.” Tarquin said, “You’re just nervous about the mission.”

“Hey, my track record for bad feelings being accurate is pretty good.” Persephone said and he pulled her into his arms, holding her gently. “You promise me you’ll be careful? That you won’t pull any stupid moves?”

“I promise.” Tarquin said and he pulled away to look at her. He seemed to hesitate for a moment before leaning down, head tilting to the side as he pressed his mouth to her lips, mandibles dropping as he kissed her gently. Her eyes fluttered closed and her arms wound around his neck as she returned the kiss, going up on her toes to get closer to him. His mouth plates weren’t as flexible as her lips, but they still managed.

“You know,” Persephone said when he pulled away, resting his forehead on hers, “That was my first kiss.”

“How was it?” He asked and the only answer she gave him was a smile.

Sitting in the back of the shuttle, her veins hummed with nervous energy. The sinking feeling had only grown after she had seen Tarquin off to group up with his unit, Shepard telling her to suit up. She would have tried insisting on joining them anyway, wanting to make sure Tarquin kept his promise to her.

“He’ll be fine, Jedi.” James said, seeming to intuit the source of her tension.

“I just keep getting the feeling that something bad is going to happen.” She said, rolling her neck until it popped.

“We find the bomb, disarm the bomb, and we’re back on the Normandy for beers and movies. No sweat.” James said, attempting to reassure her and she reached over, taking his hand and squeezing his fingers briefly in thanks. “You going to be okay going up against Cerberus? You haven’t really faced them since...well, you know.”

“I’ll be fine.” Persephone said, “Really.”

“Vega.” They looked towards the helm as Shepard called him, “I need to talk to you for a minute before we touch down.” Vega gave Persephone a wink as he stood, leaving her to join Shepard by the cockpit.

“How’s she doing?” Shepard asked, voice pitched low so Persephone wouldn’t hear.

“She’ll be fine, Lola.” James said, “She…it’s nothing.”

“What?”

“She keeps getting the feeling that something bad is going to happen.”

“Shit.” Shepard said and he gave her a questioning look. “I’ve been getting the same feeling. I shouldn’t have brought her on this mission.”

“Lola?”

“James, we’re going up against  _ Cerberus _ so we have to be prepared in case one of them happens to recognize her.” Shepard said.

“You think they’ll try to take her back?”

“Probably, if she  _ does _ get identified. I suggested a full helmet to her, but it limits her field of view.”

“Commander,” Cortez said, “The LZ is swarmed with Cerberus, you’re going to have to hit the ground running.”

“Weapons up.” Shepard said, taking her assault rifle from her back and activating her tech armor.

“No, please,” Persephone said, her voice hardening, “Allow me.” Her biotics flared, pulsing through the air and the hatch opened. Raising a hand, bullets impacted the shielding she put up and with a shout, she blasted the Cerberus troops back with a biotic wave, making them crash into one another and into the shattered pieces of stone and foundation, falling to the ground brokenly.

“That’s my girl.” Shepard said as biotics swirled in Persephone’s eyes, lifting off her armor like pale smoke. “Okay, LZ is clear for the time being, let’s go.” She jumped from the shuttle, Vega following after but not before pressing a quick kiss to Persephone’s cheek, making her turn bright red.

Persephone did much of the same as she did the last time they were on Tuchanka, providing support for Shepard and Vega, clearing paths and throwing up protecting barriers. Her biotics danced through the air, Shepard adding her own to the mix from time to time.

_ “It’s Shepard!” _ One of the Troopers yelled out as they fought through the building,  _ “She has Persephone!” _

“Shit!” Shepard hissed as she fired on the Troopers, Throwing as Persephone Pulled, Reaving as she Warped. Samara would be pleased to know that all her training hadn’t been wasted, the Justicar having taught Shepard the ability after she helped her sort things out with Morinth. A grenade arced through the air towards them but Persephone Threw it back, the explosion scattering Troopers and Engineers. A trooper got in close and tried to stab her with an electrified blade, but she dodged it, catching his arm and moving around him disarming him and twirling the blade in her hand, stabbing it through the gap between his helmet and armor into the back of his neck, killing him instantly.

The blade came out with a spray of blood and she noticed Shepard and Vega staring at her with expressions of surprise and...pride? Perhaps on Shepard’s part, but Vega’s expression was one she couldn’t quite figure.

“Damn,” He said, his voice a little husky, “That was sexy.”

“Shut up.” She said, gesturing to him with the tip of the bloody blade that was in no way a threat. She looked over the knife, examining it carefully. Despite having severed someone's spinal cord, the edge was clean and sharp, the blade itself about the length of her forearm. “Can I keep this?” She asked, looking up at Shepard.

“Yeah, go right ahead.” Shepard said, “You obviously can use it.”

“Thank you.” She said and looked over the dead body as Shepard and Vega salvaged thermal clips. There was a sheath strapped around his thigh connected to his belt and she unbuckled it, adjusting the straps and hooking it to her own, clipping it around her leg and sliding the blade home. She’d clean and oil it when she got back to the Normandy; how she knew she had to do that, she had no idea.

“Mother--” Shepard started, but it cut off with a sound of anger. “Son of a bitch.”

“What?” Persephone and Vega asked in unison.

“They set their guns to stun.” Shepard said.

“Why would they--” Persephone stopped mid-question. “They know I’m here and they--”

“Kiddo, look at me.” Shepard said, going to her and taking her face in her hands. “Look at me.” She turned her eyes to her, looking at her with a pleading expression. “They’re not going to take you. Do you understand that? They can’t have you back.”

“I shouldn’t have come.” Persephone said, “I should have stayed on the Normandy. Shepard, they--”

“ _ It’s not going to happen. _ ” Madeline said, “We need to get you back to the shuttle, get you out of here.”

“There’s not enough time.” Persephone said, “It would take too long to get me back to the Normandy and get someone else down here. We have to press forward.” There was a pause. “You know I’m right.”

“Stay close to me and Vega, don’t give them an opportunity.” Shepard said and she nodded, “Now let’s move out.”


	17. Chapter 17

“Damn.” Persephone said as she and James stopped for a moment on a ledge overlooking the valley, “That’s a big bomb.”

“Told you it’d be big.” He said, “But you’re right...damn.”

“Feeling a little intimidated, Vega?” She asked, “No one would blame you.”

“Jedi, please!” He said in mock offense. “I have experience handling  _ heavy ordinance. _ ”

“I bet you do.” She said with a snort and walked away.

“Wait…” he stopped, thinking about what he just said, “Shit, that came out wrong. I didn’t mean--Persephone!” He made a low sound of frustration, jogging after her and Shepard.

Tarquin had been all business when they grouped up with him and his unit again at the bomb, running through what was going on. There were old firewalls in place at the detonator to keep disarming the bomb from happening, by anyone. The encryption was antiquated, and Tarquin was confident he could get past it to disarm the bomb, essentially turning it into a giant radioactive paperweight.

A shot rang out and the Private next to him fell to the ground like a puppet with it’s strings cut, a blue mist of blood in the air. Another shot and another soldier went down.

“Commander, I need time to get through his encryption.” Tarquin said, “And I can’t do that and fight Cerberus at the same time.”

“Work on getting that bomb disarmed, Lieutenant, “ Shepard said, taking her rifle from her back, “We’ll handle Cerberus. Let’s move out, we’ve got shuttles in bound.” Shepard and Vega went to move to intercept the Cerberus forces, but Persephone hung back a little.

“Keep your promise?” She asked, her voice low so only he would hear and he reached over, squeezing her hand.

“I will.” Tarquin said and she went up on her toes, kissing the small, smooth spot behind his mandible, his neck flushing a bright blue. She moved off, but he pulled her back, lowering his mouth to her lips and kissing her.

“Time and place, Tarquin.” She said with a small smile as she pulled away, a flush to her cheeks.

“I know, I just…” He stopped at the kiss to his mandible and let her go, watching her pull a knife as long as her forearm from her belt.

“Not a word, Shepard.” Persephone said, catching the amused look Shepard was giving her as she joined them.

“You guys are so cute together!” She said and Persephone’s blush deepened.

“Shut up.” Persephone said, “Bring up your omni-tool.”

“Okay?” Shepard said as she brought it up the same time Persephone brought up hers. A program copy started a moment later, taking only a second. “Copied yourself the tactical cloak program?”

“You never use it and it comes standard with Alliance omni-tools.” She said with a shrug as she verified the download.

“Cerberus incoming.” James said and they took cover, seeing the shuttles fly overhead. Tarquin was relatively protected up on his platform, only one way in or out of the area and they were currently holding vanguard.

“Persephone,” Shepard said and she looked at her, twirling the knife in her hand as troopers dropped from the shuttles. “Thin the herd.” A small grin perked at the side of her lips for a brief moment before she vanished as the tactical cloak activated. There was only the subtle shifting of rocks that signaled her leaving them before a shout rang out, a trooper collapsing to the ground in a slowly expanding pool of blood. Shepard and Vega popped out of cover, firing on the troopers, keeping them distracted as Persephone took them out close range. They tried not to fire on the area where they last saw her, not wanting her to catch friendly fire, but it was difficult as she kept disappearing and reappearing.

James’s whole body jerked as if he were hit when a cry of alarm split the air and she reappeared, electricity crackling over her armor as she fell to the ground, dazed from the stun round. A trooper was quick to scoop her up, throwing her over his shoulder and making a break for the shuttle.

“Vega!” Shepard called out but he was already leaping over the barrier, heading to cut them off. His breathing was loud in his ears, heart pounding as he dodged bullets, barely hearing them strike stone and dirt around him as he sprinted towards the trooper carrying her. Taking his pistol from his hip, he stopped only long enough to sight down and squeezed the trigger, winging the trooper in the leg, forcing him to the ground, not wanting to risk hitting her with a kill shot. Persephone was very still on the dirt, but biotics flickered over her armor from time to time as she fought the paralyzing effects of the stun round.

Holstering his weapon, he ran towards her, jumping up and slamming his fist into the troopers face as he moved to retrieve her, knocking him out cold. Sliding into the dirt, James picked her up him his arms, carrying her behind cover. She flailed suddenly, her eyes wild, and he caught her arms, holding her hands in his own.

“Jedi!” She fought against him, “Persephone! It's me!” James pulled her against his chest, holding her close. “I got you, you're safe.”

“James?” She choked out, “I couldn't...move, couldn't...fight. He was taking me back and I couldn't...stop him.”

“I know, I know. No one’s taking you anywhere. I got you.” A shaking hand touched his neck and she sank into him, breathing through it as feeling and mobility came back to her limbs. “We need to get you up, okay? Looks like Cerberus is pulling back.”

“Yeah.” She said, her eyes still closed but they opened as he helped her get to her feet. She still leaned against him heavily and he supported her as they went back to Shepard. There was a jarring boom, the sound of machinery powering up. Persephone pushed away from him and with a biotic pulse, lifted herself onto the platform, leaving them to scramble up the ladder after her.

Persephone watched as Tarquin scaled the bomb, disconnecting the detonator manually as it powered up to go off, panic and fear coursing through her veins.

“Tarquin!” She yelled out, but he either didn’t hear her, or paid her no mind. The detonator detached and he was falling, the bomb falling with him.

_ No no no! _

The world narrowed then vanished in a flash, her implant searing.

“Persephone!” Shepard called out, looking around the area she used to be, having seen her vanish in what looked like a biotic charge, but she never reappeared. Smoke and flames rose from the dig site. “Persephone!”

_ “Commander! _ ” Tarquin’s voice came over the comm in her ear.

“Lieutenant, but you---”

_ “I know!”  _ He said,  _ “I was falling, then I saw her, and...we’re on the other side! We’re safe! Spirits I don’t know how she did it, but we’re safe! Persephone, that was…” _ There was a pause.  _ “Persephone?” _ His voice shook a little. _ “Persephone!” _


	18. Chapter 18

Shepard, James, Tarquin, and a few others sat outside the medbay, looking in on Mordin and Chakwas as they worked on her.

_ “James! Start chest compressions! Keep her heart beating! Lieutenant! Man the oxygen bag, keep her breathing! Steve, radio the Normandy and tell Chakwas to meet us in the shuttle bay! Stay with us, kiddo, stay with us. ” _

Shepard sighed, running her fingers through her hair and James got up from his seat, starting to pace.

_ “Her heart's stopped again!” _

_ “Get it going and keep it going!” _

_ “Come on, Jedi, come on!” _

Primarch Victus came into the mess and Tarquin left without a word, following him as they went for a debriefing.

_ “She’s having another seizure!” _

_ “Get her onto her side, keep her airways clear!” _

Liara came out of her office, joining them, sitting next to Shepard on the galley island.

“How’s she doing?” She asked gently and Shepard cleared her throat.

“Not sure yet, they’re still working on her.” She said and Liara laid her hand on hers, Madeline holding it tightly.

“What happened?” She asked and Shepard shrugged.

“She um…” A pause, “There was a massive biotic display and she was gone, on the other side of the dig site with Lieutenant Victus. By the time we got to them, her heart had already stopped three times, Tarquin was doing chest compressions to get it going again.”

“She’ll be okay, Madeline.” Liara said, “Persephone is strong.”

“There was a couple of times on the way here that her...her heart stopped and I thought that was it, I just watched her die. She just died in front of me.” Madeline said and Liara squeezed her hand, leaning against her side. “Vega.” The man looked over at her, expression stony. “How’re you doing over there?” He didn’t say anything, his jaw tightening. She understood that feeling, the helplessness of seeing someone you cared about injured, condition unknown, and there was nothing you could do but wait and see what happened.

It seemed as if Chakwas and Mordin had done all they could, Karin covering her up with a blanket, going to leave the medbay as Mordin went back to his research. Shepard hopped down off the island as she came out.

“Well?” Shepard asked.

“We’ve stabilized her.” Karin said, “Her electrolyte levels are dangerously low so we’ve started an IV drip of fluids.”

“Why isn’t she awake?” Vega asked.

“She’s in a coma.” Karin said, “I am registering higher brain function, and she’s breathing on her own, but whatever she did depleted her so severely that everything basically...went into standby mode, for layman's terms.”

“Is she going to wake up?” Shepard asked.

“Eventually, perhaps. I don’t know, Shepard.” Karin said, “Based on what you’ve told me, no one has ever done what she has, so there’s no precedence. I figure every biotic has the  _ potential _ to do it, but none ever has before, at least to my knowledge.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure it would’ve gotten out that biotics could  _ teleport _ .” Vega said with a rude sound.

“You all can go in to see her--” James almost immediately went around her, walking into the medbay, “If you want.”

James stood there for a moment, looking down at her so still on the bed. Her normally tawny skin was pale, cheeks gaunt, black circles like bruises under her eyes. Her lips looked almost painfully dry, normally shiny hair dull and limp against the white sheets. Grabbing a chair, he pulled it over, sitting down next to her, watching for a bit as she breathed in deep, even breaths. He hesitated a moment before reaching out, wrapping his fingers around hers. Her skin was cool to the touch, a far cry from the constant warmth she carried because of her biotics.

“Is she your mate?” He looked over briefly at the female Krogan at the question.

“No.” James said, turning back to look at Persephone. “She’s...a very good friend.” He took her hand in both of his, moving them over her fingers to try to warm them. He didn’t know how long he sat there; minutes, hours, he didn’t care.

“Hey.” The voice was gentle, and he looked over his shoulder as Shepard walked up. She was sniffling slightly and her eyes were red, still shiny from unshed tears. “How is she?”

“She’s a little cold.” James said, pulling the blanket up higher.

“I’ll see about getting her another blanket.” Shepard said and went around the other side of the hospital bed, brushing Persephone’s hair out of her face. “She looks like she’s sleeping. I mean, technically she is, but....”

“Yeah.” James said, holding her hand just a little tighter.

“I spoke to Kaidan, let him know what happened. We’re about a week out from the Citadel, Karin said that if she doesn’t regain consciousness by then, that she’s having her transferred to Huerta.” Shepard said and James gave a humorless snort.

“She’s going to hate that. Waking up in a hospital.” He said and she echoed the sound.

“I know.” Shepard said, “But Karin and Mordin have done all they can for her with what they have here. If she doesn’t wake up by then, she’ll need to be seen by a specialist and they have them there.”

“I know, Lola, I get you.” James said, “It’s just...she hates hospitals.” They stayed there in the silence for a long moment, Shepard looking down at her.

“When I first found out  _ who _ she was, I used to go down below Engineering and watch her sleep for a little bit. I know that sounds creepy, but it’s true. She probably knew I was there, I’ll have to thank her for not saying anything.” Shepard said, “I was just...blown away by the fact that she existed, you know? That I have a daughter. There’s a person in this galaxy with half my DNA and she’s  _ here, _ you know?”

“Yeah, I understand.” James said, “I mean, I don’t  _ understand _ , I don’t have kids, but I get what you’re saying. I’m actually a lot smarter than people give me credit for.”

“I never thought you were dumb, James.” Shepard said with a small smile, “A bit thick-headed, sure, but not dumb. Why do you think I take you out on missions all the time?” There was a pause at that as he thought it over.

“Because I’m a meat shield?” He asked and she gave an actual laugh, making him smile somewhat.

“Well, that too.” She said and suddenly sobered, “James, I want to thank you.”

“For what, Lola?”

“When she went down and the trooper grabbed her.” Shepard said, “You were closest and you already moving to get her before I ordered you to. You ran into enemy fire to get her back without a thought.”

“Well, yeah.” James said as if it were nothing. “You think I’m letting some Cerberus  _ pendejo _ take her back without a fight? Fuck that. You got nothing to thank me for, Shepard.”

_ “Commander Shepard?” _ Traynor’s voice filtered into the medbay, “ _ Admiral Hackett is on vidcomm requesting an update.” _

“Tell him I’ll be there in a bit, Samantha.” Shepard said.

_ “Yes, ma’am.” _

“Time to get back to work.” Shepard said, “Mordin, you’ll let us know if there’s any change?”

“Of course, Shepard.” The Salarian said, not looking up from his research station.

“Come on, big guy.”  Shepard said, laying her hand on his shoulder. “There’s nothing we can do for her right now.” He hesitated for a moment, but gave Persephone’s hand a gentle squeeze before getting up, following Shepard out of the medbay.


	19. Chapter 19

Days passed with no change to her condition. Scans were run daily of her cybernetics and her biotic implant, but mechanically, there was nothing wrong with them. Small blood samples were taken for testing, and while she was improving, she still stayed asleep.

Mordin ran into a roadblock with his work on a Genophage cure, all progress coming to a screeching halt, something that was making Wrex (and by no small extension, the Primarch) a bit agitated.

Shepard went into the medbay, mug of coffee in hand, automatically going over Persephone’s bedside to check on her.

“She’s been dreaming.” Eve said and she looked over at her.

“Yeah?” Shepard asked and the Krogan nodded.

“Nightmares. She makes sounds of fear and pain.” She said, “I’ve taken to singing her a Krogan lullaby, it helps calm her.”

“I--thank you.” Shepard said and received another nod.

“She would come in here from time to time to talk to me while you were away on missions.” Eve said, “She was curious about Krogan culture and history and had questions, but I think Wrex makes her a little nervous.”

“Wrex makes everyone who doesn’t know him a little nervous.” Shepard said with a small smile.

“Can’t imagine why.” Wrex said as he came into the medbay, “I’m a nice guy.”

“You’re an asshole, is what you are.” Shepard said and he snorted.

“That too.”

“So much about her is uncertain, though.” Eve said and Shepard gave her a questioning look. “She shared her origins with me, and how she remembers close to nothing about what she endured in that facility. Persephone has so many questions about herself. Why was she saved? What was her purpose? She has training, but for what reason? What was Cerberus’ goal with her? So many questions, but she’s terrified of what the answers might be.”

“I’m surprised she told you all that.” Shepard said, “Persephone isn’t exactly the most...open person about her emotions.”

“As Shaman to the Krogan people, I often gave spiritual guidance or acted as advisor. I can also read people, Commander, and I think I put her at ease.” Eve said.

“Thank you.” Shepard said, “She could have just come to me with this.”

“No, she couldn’t have.” Eve said, “She wants to be strong for you, Commander. She hides her weaknesses and doubts away from you so you don’t worry about her. Persephone doesn’t want you to cast her aside because she’s not the daughter you may have imagined a child of yours to be.”

“That’s…” She paused, collecting herself, looking down at the woman unaware of the conversation happening around her, “I would never do that.”

“Some part of her knows that.” Eve said, “But the fears are still there.” They were silent for a long while, Wrex having wandered back out again at some point.

“I’m surprised Lieutenant Vega isn’t here right now.” Shepard said, attempting to lighten the mood.

“He was in here before you. The Lieutenant visits her every morning, asking how she’s doing. He says he’s not her mate--”

“She’s actually dating Lieutenant Victus.” Shepard said and Eve perked a brow at her.

“The Turian Primarchs’ son?” Shepard nodded, “I remember him from when he was in here getting looked over.  _ He _ hasn’t been in here at all, but if what I heard of what happened is true, that might be because of feelings of guilt on his part. He’s the cause of her current condition.”

“I should get going.” Shepard said, “But thank you for looking after her.”

“Of course, Commander.” Eve said and Shepard left the medbay.

James wandered in later on that day, greeting Eve and Mordin like he always did before sitting down next to Persephone’s bedside.

“You’re starting to worry me, Jedi.” He said, his voice low. “Docs say there’s nothing wrong with you, everything's evened out again, but you’re still not waking up.” He took one of her hands in his own, her skin warm and soft. “Come on,  _ linda _ , you have to wake up. Chakwas keeps talking about possible brain damage around your implant after you went super saiyan, that…” He paused, clearing his throat suddenly thick, “That you might never wake up.” He wrapped his hand around hers, holding the heel of her thumb. “Persephone, I’m going to be really cheesy right now, but if you can hear me, I want you to squeeze my hand.” There was nothing, her fingers stayed limp in his and he sighed, scrubbing his face with his other hand. Slight movement, and her fingers tightened. “Jedi?” He asked and she let out a groan.

“Ow.” She said, her eyes struggling to open, “The world is pain and nothing is okay.” A wide smile split his face and he slid his hand behind her neck, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Amp port!” She exclaimed, seizing slightly in pain.

“Sorry! Sorry!” He said, moving his hand to the back of her head, fingers laced in her hair.

“Help me up.” She said, her voice tight, gripping his hand.

“I don’t think you should be…”

“I feel like I’ve been laying here forever,” Persephone said, “ _ Help me up. _ ” James helped ease her into a sitting position, sliding onto the bed behind her so she had something to lean back against. He ended up more or less straddling the bed, legs hanging off either side as she sat between them, her back against his chest. Chakwas came in and began running her through a gauntlet of questions, shining a light in her eyes to test pupil response and taking her blood pressure. Her biotics were almost nonexistent, barely managing to maintain a simple barrier without strain or for very long, but Karin said that those should return with time and that she should lay off for a while, let herself rest. James never moved from his station behind her, shifting slightly out of the way when Chakwas wanted to examine her amp port, the skin around it irritated and red. There was no discharge and she wasn’t running a fever, so infection wasn’t a concern.

He only moved when Shepard came into the medbay, Madeline immediately going to Persephone and pulling her into her arms, holding her tightly.

“You scared the  _ hell _ out of me, kiddo.” Shepard said, her voice tight. “Me and your father.”

“I’m sorry.” Persephone said, burying her face in her neck.

“You never do that again, do you understand me?” She backed away only enough to hold her face in her hands. “ _ Never. _ ”

“It really hurt, so no, never.” She said with a shake of her head and Shepard pulled her back in. “I need a shower. And food. I am so hungry right now.” Shepard pulled away with chuckle, wiping at her eyes.

“Go get cleaned up, I’ll make you something.” Shepard said and Persephone slid off the bed slowly, wincing.

“Kind of wish I hadn’t eaten the rest of the udon.” She grumbled, pulling the patient scrubs she had been changed into straight. Shepard was hit with a sense of deja-vu looking at her, Persephone resembling very much how she did when she first came aboard the Normandy.

“I’ll need to run scans later of your implants,” Chakwas said, “But that can wait until after you’ve recovered some.”

“Thank you.” Persephone said and Shepard helped her from the medbay, arm around her waist.


	20. Chapter 20

She was still pale even after her shower and large meal Shepard had made for her with James’ help, but she was stronger than she was when she woke up. Her biotics still flickered weakly, but they were slowly coming back.

Persephone sat in the observation deck, going through her meditation exercise, the objects wobbling slowly through the air around her. The movements weren’t quite as smooth or even as they normally were, and there wasn’t quite as many satellites, but it was helping. Steve had given her a warm welcome when she went down to see him in the shuttlebay, holding her close, his voice filled with emotion as he told her how much she had scared him, how every time her heart had stopped it felt like his was breaking.

Her omnitool chirped at her and she released the objects, letting them fall in a controlled descent. Bringing up her omnitool, she looked at the message she received.

_ Jedi- _

_ Come down to the shuttlebay, I got something that’ll make you feel better. _

_ James _

Pausing for a moment, she got up, putting the objects back on their shelves and heading for the elevator, the metal floor cool under her bare feet. Shepard had gotten her a pair of boots, and she had her slippers, but she liked walking around barefoot; feeling the ship under her feet, the throbbing hum of the drive core vibrating up her soles like a heartbeat.

The door opened and she stepped out into the shuttlebay, looking around, seeing Cortez working at the requisition terminal.

“Hey, Jedi,” He said, looking over his shoulder at her briefly, “What’s up?”

“I got a message from James to come down here.” Persephone said, but didn’t see the man in question. “Said he had something that’ll make me feel better?” Steve paused for a moment, then snorted, shaking his head. “What?”

“Nothing, I’m spending too much time around him.” Steve said, “Vega! Persephone’s here!”

“Nice!” The man’s voice came from somewhere in the shuttlebay and he emerged. Persephone felt her face warm slightly at the clothes he had changed into. A dark tank top clung to his upper body, almost showcasing his powerful shoulders and large arms, stretching over his chest. Dark track pants sat low on trim hips, just a sliver of skin showing between the hem of his shirt and the waistband, a hint of another tattoo just barely visible, so much so that she couldn’t make out the design. “How’re you feeling?” He asked and she snapped her attention back up to him, the pleased, cocky smile on his face letting her know he had noticed her staring and her blush intensified.

“Better.” She said, “Not one hundred percent, but I’m getting there. So, what’s going on?”

“We’re going to dance.” He said with a smirk and she gave him a questioning look.

“Dance?” She asked.

“Spar.” Steve clarified simply.

“Oh.” Persephone said, “James, I don’t think we should---I mean, what if I  seriously hurt you? I don't know if I was trained to stop, you know?"

“I’m a big boy, I can take care of myself.” James said, “Besides, I got you on what? Nine inches of height and over hundred pounds of muscle?”

“Okay.” Persephone said reluctantly, taking off her sweater and revealing the tank she was wearing underneath. James paused as he saw the scars on her skin, the two most obvious ones being a Y incision scar on her chest, the arms extending above the tops of her breasts, and two thick lines on her inner forearms going from the bends of her elbows to her wrists. “Sorry, I’ll…” She went to put her sweater back on again but he reached out, putting his hand on her arm.

“It’s all right, Jedi,” James said, “It’s just...they cut you open.”

“I don’t remember it.” Persephone said with a shrug, “The scars have no memories, they’re just there, like birthmarks.”

“Okay,” James said, determined to get her mind off it, “How do you want to do this?” He turned and walked into the shuttle bay and she looked around, seeing that he had laid out padded mats on the floor.

“How about this?” She started, “Whoever’s back hits the mats three times loses?”

“I like it.” He said with a smirk and she joined him on the mats, bouncing a little on the balls of her feet. “Don’t think I’m going to go easy on you just because---” He was suddenly staring up at the roof of the shuttlebay, Steve howling with laughter.

“One.” Persephone said almost sweetly, but he lashed out, sweeping her legs out from under her and she grunted as she hit the mats.

“One.” James said and she jumped to her feet, moving away from him as he got to his. They moved around each other almost in an actual dance, Persephone dodging grabs and James twisting out of attempts to knock him off his feet. It didn’t take them long to work up a sweat, their worlds narrowed down to each other, focusing on each others movements, looking for the slightest twitch of muscle that might indicate action. Persephone was more acrobatic to his brawler, flowing around him as he tried to grab her.

Leaping, she kicked out, catching him in the chest, driving the air from his lungs and sending him to the floor as she fell back, bracing herself on her shoulders and jumping back onto her feet.

“Two.” She said and he laid there for a moment. “You all right?”

“Yeah.” He wheezed and got back up again. It wasn’t long after that she left her right side open and he tackled her to the floor, pinning her onto the mats beneath him. “Two.” She struggled a little under him, but that only made him hold her tighter. “Wait, three. I win!”

“I landed on my shoulders, not my back.” Persephone said, squirming against him. “You’re really heavy.”

“Okay, I’ve give you that one.” James said, “But now we’re tied.”

“I’ll have to stop holding back then.” She said and he leaned into her, his lips pulling into a smile.

“Your eyes have gone swirly again.” He said and heat rushed to her face. She’d be lying if she said that she didn’t feel  _ something _ pinned underneath him; his warmth sinking into her, the smell of gun oil, sweat, and something spicy and masculine that could only be him filling her nose. It made heat course through her veins, her weakened biotics threatening to flicker in response. There must have been some sort of expression on her face because all teasing left his, lips parting as he looked down at her. The insane urge to pull her arms free, wrap them around his neck and close the distance between them came on strong. She could almost feel his shorn hair against her fingers and she wondered if his lips were as soft as they looked, what his scruff would feel like as it scraped over her skin.

The depth at which she wanted him almost scared her and made guilt settle into her gut. She was with Tarquin, she adored him and he made her happy. While yes, she did think about  _ this _ with him, it wasn’t nearly to the degree that she was thinking about it with James.

The sound of Steve clearing his throat snapped them out of it and James got up, moving away as she got to her feet.

“You mentioned not holding back?” James asked and she flashed him a smile. She let him get close again, grabbing his arm as he attempted to grab her, using it to spin him around and jumping up, grabbing onto the cargo netting on one of the large crates, swinging around and wrapping her legs around his neck, twisting and taking him to the floor.

She was off him the moment his back hit the mats, walking to the elevator, grabbing her sweater on the way out.

“Three.” She said as she left. James laid there for a moment, staring up at the ceiling before Steve wandered over.

“You okay, Vega?” He asked.

“ _ Dios _ .” He breathed, “I think I’m in love.”


	21. Chapter 21

Persephone waited a bit for her heart rate to slow before going to find Shepard, finding her in the CIC talking to Specialist Traynor at the Galaxy Map.

“Persephone!” Samantha greeted her warmly as she walked up, “How are you feeling?”

“Better.” Persephone said, “Not  _ great _ , but better.”

“Heard you kicked Vega’s ass.” Shepard said and she gave her a questioning look. “Joker was watching and he let us know.”

“Voyeur.” Persephone said, “Anyway, I need to get in the War Room.” There was a pause.

“Why?” Shepard asked, she tried to make her tone light, but Persephone caught the suspicion and slight accusation.

“According to EDI, Tarquin is hiding in there and I need to pull him out by the fringe.” Another pause, “He’s been avoiding me.”

“Wait here.” Shepard said and walked away, heading to the War Room.

“So,” Persephone said, attempting to break the uncomfortable silence that fell in Shepard’s absence, “How’s everything going with you?”

“It’s going well.” Samantha said, “You?”

“Not bad.” Persephone said, “Biotics are a little iffy, but they’re getting better.”

“Well, that’s good.” Samantha said and the door to the War Room opened again, Shepard dragging out a complaining Tarquin by the back of his armor, depositing him in front of Persephone.

“Here.” She said and the Turian looked at Persephone quickly, then away.

“Thank you.” She said and grabbed his hand, dragging him to the elevator.

“Spirits!” He exclaimed, “Will you---! Persephone, I can’t just---! Can you please---!” The elevator doors closing cut off his stilted objections. Persephone punched the bottom for Engineering, but brought up her omni-tool, putting in a command. The elevator came to a stop with a shudder, the lights flickering slightly.

_ “Persephone,” _ EDI’s voice came over the comm system,  _ “I am registering a malfunction in the elevator. Are you okay?” _

“I’m fine, EDI.” Persephone said, “I just need to talk to Tarquin in private. I’ll start it up again when we’re done.”

_ “Very well, Persephone.” _

“Thank you, and please tell Joker to stop spying on me.”

In the cockpit, EDI put in a command and the security feed of the elevator cut off, the screen in the HUD going dark.

“Come on!” Joker exclaimed.

"She requested her privacy, Jeff.”

Persephone stood there, arms crossed over her stomach as he looked down at his feet, picking at his talons in a nervous gesture.

“I was told you didn’t visit me when I was sick.” Persephone said.

“I was busy.” Tarquin said, still not looking at her.

“Bullshit.” She said, “And now you’re avoiding me, hiding in the War Room where you know I don’t have the clearance to go.”

“I’m still busy.”

“Again: Bullshit.” He didn’t say anything and silence stretched between them. “Tarquin, look at me.” He shuffled a little, but didn’t lift his head, mandibles twitching. Stepping into him, she ducked a little so she could look up into his eyes. “Tarquin.” Deep green eyes full of guilt locked with hers and she reached up, holding the side of his face. His hand came up to cover hers and he moved his face into her palm, his eyes closing.

“You almost died.” It was so low, she almost didn’t catch it. “Because of me. Because I couldn’t keep my fucking promise to you.” His sub vocals hummed strangely, a mix of sadness and anger. “You almost died because of me.”

“But I didn’t.”

“But you did.” Tarquin said, “There were a few times when your heart stopped and I thought it was never going to start again. You almost gave your life to save me and I--” His eyes squeezed tight, talons curling around her hand.

Going up on her toes, she kissed him, his eyes opening in surprise before he pressed back against her lips, his arms coming around her as he held her tight. Warmth spread through her body, a feeling that was wholly unfamiliar to her, but one she figured was akin to slipping into a hot bath. She shivered against him a little, her arms wrapping around his neck. Persephone hadn’t realized he had been been backing her up until she met the wall of the elevator. She pulled away at the first touch his tongue against her lips, her cheeks flushing darkly as she looked up at him.

“I’m moving too fast, sorry.” Tarquin said.

“It’s just I’ve never…” She let it trail off, more than a little embarrassed.

“With a Turian?”

“At all.”

“Spirits, I forgot.” Tarquin said, “You’re barely two years old.”

“Well, when you say it like that…”

“Persephone,” Tarquin started, “The Primarch is stationing me on the Citadel to work with the Command Officers on troop deployments. Come with me. I have an apartment on Zakera Ward we can live in.”

“Tarquin…” She sighed.

“I know you have to talk with the Commander, but think about it? Please? I’d rather have you with me where I know you’re safe.” She knew what he meant, but annoyance still hit her strong.

“Why does everyone seem to think I’m some fragile little waif that needs protecting?” She asked,  _ “I can take care of myself. _ ”

“I know you can, I only meant…”

“I know what you meant, Tarquin.” She said with another sigh, “I’ll think about it and talk it over with Shepard, but if she says she needs me here, then I’m staying.”


	22. Chapter 22

James was sitting at a table in the mess, looking over armory requisition reports, Garrus sitting next to him for no particular reason reading similar reports.

“The Thannix need anything?” James asked and the Turian gave a subvocal hum.

“I’ll get back to you on that one.” He said, taking a sip of his dextro coffee, mandibles twitching slightly. They both looked up as Tarquin suddenly sat across from them, looking at James pointedly.

“Uh...hey, man.” James said but the Lieutenant didn’t say anything. “Scars? You know Turian body language better than I do. Is he about to hit me?”

“You’ve been with a lot of human women, right?” Tarquin finally asked, “Sexually, I mean.” There was a pause and James looked from Garrus and back to Tarquin, brows raised in confusion and surprise at the directness of the question.

“Uh...I guess you could say that.” James said, wondering where he was going with the question.

“Because I never have.”

“Okay?”

“And I  _ really _ want to.”

“Okay?” James asked again, “Why are you--”

“With Persephone.” Tarquin said.

“ _ Oh.” _ James said.

“And I don’t know--” He stopped, “I mean, I’ve only been with Turian women. What do human women  _ like _ in bed?”

Awkward.

“Um...well.” James started, even though giving Tarquin pointers on how to seduce Persephone is the  _ last _ thing he wanted to do. Maybe he could be vague enough to where Tarquin would lose interest, as petty as he knew that was. “Every woman is different and uh…”

“Vega.” Garrus said, fighting back laughter, “Stop. Spirits, stop.” He took a moment to collect himself before giving a brief sigh. “If Persephone is anything like her mother: Talons lightly across the base of her spine, low mating trill behind her left ear and she’s yours. After that, be careful of your plates and teeth and…” He gave another sigh, his neck darkening slightly as he rolled his eyes, “Watch for her reactions while you use your tongue on her...softer areas.” His hand came up to cover his face, “I can’t believe I just told you that, Madeline is going to kill me.”

“Whoa, whoa!” James exclaimed, “Wait.  _ What? _ You and the Commander?”

“For a couple months back when we were working with Cerberus to take down the Collectors.” Garrus said, “It didn’t mean anything. More...I don’t know, blowing off steam, I guess. We weren’t in a relationship and the...arrangement ended when she turned herself over to the Alliance and got back together with Kaidan.” He said, “Anyway, Lieutenant, if you’re worried about hurting her or something, go see Dr. Chakwas, she might be able to help you out with educational aids.”

“But don’t talk to Joker.” James added quickly.

“ _ Spirits, _ don’t even  _ think _ about talking to Joker about this.” Garrus agreed, “I made that mistake back when Shepard and I were together, I’ll  _ never _ get those images out of my head.”

“Thank you.” Tarquin said, “Obviously I’m going to wait until she’s living with me on the Citadel, I’m not going to--”

“Hold up.” James interrupted. “Living with you on the Citadel?” He repeated, phrasing it as a question.

“The Primarch is stationing me on the Citadel and I asked her to come with me. She’s already talked to the Commander about it and she’s given her the go ahead. When we dock in about a day, Persephone is leaving the Normandy with me.” Tarquin explained, but James didn’t say anything, his jaw tightening slightly before he got up, pushing away from the table.

“Vega?” Garrus asked.

“I got shit I have to do in the shuttle bay,” He said, his voice tight, “Let me know if the Thannix needs anything.”

“Will do.” Garrus said as James retreated to the elevator.

He stood at his station, going over inventory reports, not really seeing the numbers as his mind turned over what Tarquin had said.

“ _ When we dock on the Citadel, Persephone is leaving with me _ .”

He had to stop every now and then to take a deep breath, trying to calm the storm raging in his chest. James would be ashamed to admit that he inherited some of his father's temper; not all the scars he carried were from being a soldier, and it was sometimes a hard fought battle to keep it in check and not lash out.

_ Don’t get angry. _ He repeated it in his mind like a mantra, but it did little to lessen the rage that he felt.  _ Don’t get angry. You should be happy for her. You have no claim on her, she’s not yours, she’s made her choice. Don’t get angry. _

He was a grown man, not a teenager with a crush, he could push past this like an adult and be supportive and happy for her.

_ Don’t get-- _

With a low growl, he lashed out, his fist connecting with his punching bag, making it swing. The stinging in his knuckles felt good and he did it again, striking the bag again and again until he went into tunnel vision, sweat beading on his forehead, soaking into his shirt on his back. He didn’t know how long he beat on the canvas bag, but somewhere along the lines he heard his name being called, though dimly, as if through a haze.

_ Vega.... _

He pushed away the voice, focusing on getting all his anger out on the canvas and not the Turian Lieutenant.

_ Vega…! _

Again he pushed it away.

_ “James, stop!” _ He was suddenly immobile, a mass effect field shimmering over his skin from the Stasis. “Shit, Vega!” The Stasis dropped and he turned, seeing Persephone standing there, eyes worried as she looked at him. “You’re hurting yourself!” She took his hands in hers, looking over the broken skin and bleeding knuckles, the canvas bag stained red. “Why the hell didn’t you wrap your damn hands?!”

“I didn’t....” He stopped, the anger melting away as she tended to him. “I forgot.”

“You  _ forgot? _ ” Letting go of him, she went to the first aid kit and grabbed a packet of medigel, shaking the end of it as she went back to him. “Hold still!” Tearing it open, she smeared it on his hands, the sharp smell of antiseptic stinging his nose as his knuckles burned. “Now, what’s wrong?”

“I just…” He stopped with a sigh, “Shit’s just catching up with me, I guess.”

“So you decided to take it out on the poor, defenseless punching bag?” Persephone asked, “Come here.” She pulled him into a hug, arms around his chest, and he hesitated for a moment before he returned it, holding onto her tightly as he sank into her embrace. She felt so good in his arms, fitting against him perfectly. Her hand stroked his back and he felt as it all just sort of...fell away. “Are you going to be okay?” She asked after a while, pulling away from him, but reaching up to hold his face in her hands.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine, Jedi.” He said, a smile that wasn’t genuine pulling at his lips.

“You’re lying to me,” Persephone said as her hands dropped, his brows perking slightly when she saw right through him, “But I’ll let it go for now.”

_ Stay. _ He wanted to say it.  _ Stay on the Normandy. _ He wouldn’t say it. Persephone deserved to live her own life, and he couldn’t be selfish and hold her back from that. Reaching up, he brushed a lock of dark hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear. His knuckles were starting to feel better, a little less raw, and she took his hand in her own.

“Next time,” Her voice was gentle as she looked up at him. “Wrap your hands.”

“Yes ma’am.” It was barely said above a whisper, a soft smile curling his lips. She pulled away from him, moving to the elevator and he almost reached for her, wanting to pull her back against him, wrap an arm around her waist and press his lips to hers. He watched as she left, standing there for a bit before going back to his work.


	23. Chapter 23

Persephone laid on her cot, staring up at the cables and tubing running under Engineering. They would be docked at the Citadel by morning and while she was excited about living there with Tarquin, she also...didn’t want to leave the Normandy. She did, but she didn’t. The conflicting emotions tumbled around her brain, confusing her even further about what she was actually feeling.

One on hand, she’d be living with Tarquin, someone who cared about her and she cared about and she wanted to see where this relationship they had would go. She’d experience and learn new things that she couldn’t while on board a ship. She’d also be spending more time with Kaidan, who, Shepard had told her, had been wanting to spend more time with her to try to get to know her better. Shepard did seem to monopolize all the parental bonding.

On the other hand, she’d be leaving behind her friends here on the ship. Steve, Liara, Garrus, and...James. Gods, she’d miss James. She already did and she hadn’t even left the ship yet.

It’s not as if they were going to break off all communication with each other, they could still talk via omni-tool and whenever the Normandy docked again and he took leave. But she wouldn’t be able to just take a short elevator trip to go see him anymore.

She hadn’t expected the pang of bittersweet longing in her chest when she had pulled him into her arms earlier, wanting to comfort and support him through whatever it was that had driven him to injure himself trying to get his mind away from it. Persephone contemplated going down to the shuttle bay, to see if he was still awake like she was, but she didn’t want to disturb him on the off chance he wasn’t.

The soft hiss of the door to Engineering floated down the stairs and just for a moment, she hoped it was him coming to visit her, having had the same thought she did. It was Tarquin that came down the stairs, dressed in Turian civvies and there was a pang of guilt that she masked with a smile. She shouldn’t be disappointed to see her boyfriend.

“Can’t sleep either?” She asked and he shook his head. Sitting up on the cot, she beckoned him with a gesture and he joined her, sitting on a crate opposite her. “What’s up?”

"I’m a little nervous.” He said, “I’ve never lived with anyone, I mean, not anyone I really cared about. Military barracks don’t really count.”

“I’m sure we’ll figure it out.”

“Are you...nervous?” Tarquin asked, “Not just with living with another person, but I only have one bed, I m-mean I have a couch, I can take that if you’re not comfortable with---”

“Tarquin.” He stopped at his name, his words having gotten considerably faster the more he had talked. “I’ll be fine. Come here.” He got up from the crate and she took his hand, awkwardly weaving her fingers with his. “Let’s try to get at least  _ some _ sleep, yeah?”

“Okay.” He said with a nod and moved around the other side of the cot. It was a tight fit, the cot was barely big enough for one person, let alone a human and a Turian, but they managed to make it work. Tarquin laid behind her on his side to account for his carapace and crest, his arm around her waist, her head pillowed on his arm. She gave a small, contented sigh as she cuddled back into him and his arm tightened as he nuzzled into her hair that smelled faintly of mint.

She was so soft in his arms, not like a Turian woman, the skin of her stomach smooth under his talons as he pushed up her shirt a little so he was touching her. Tarquin had wanted to wait until they had a better sense of privacy, but laying with her like this…

Nuzzling behind her ear, a soft trill purred up his chest and she gasped, shuddering in his arms as the smell of human pheromones spiked just a little bit.

Unable to sleep, James was working when he stopped, head canting to the side when he heard it. Soft whimpers and gasps coming through the ventilation duct, barely audible over the air processors. The faint sounds continued and heat rushed up his neck, his chest tightening painfully. The Engineering deck and the shuttle bay were far closer together than any of the other floors, especially the cargo area under Engineering.

_ “T-Tarquin…” _

_ "Spirits, Persephone…” _

Setting down his things, he headed for the elevator. Looks like he was sleeping on the crew deck tonight.

Tarquin was gone when she woke the next morning, but she had a hazy memory of him pressing his mouth to the side of her hair before he left. Her body was sore, between her legs especially, no matter how gentle he had tried to be with her. Running her fingers through her hair, she winced as she caught a few snags and grabbed her brush, pulling it through her riotous curls.

Heat rushed to her face at the memory of what they had done last night and she had to take a moment to collect herself before she got dressed, gathering her toiletries and heading for the crew deck to shower.

Afterwards, she was heading for the mess hall when Tarquin caught her, grabbing her hand and pulling her against him,

"Good morning.” He said and she gave him a soft smile.

"Good morning.” She echoed and he leaned down, pressing a kiss to her lips that she returned, her eyes closing.

“So last night was…”

“Yeah.” She agreed and he nuzzled into her neck.

“I can’t wait to get you alone again.” He said and she flushed bright red.

“Tarquin!” She said, pushing away from him with an embarrassed smile. “You left quite a scratch on my thigh, by the way, found it in the shower.” He winced at that, his gaze becoming apologetic.

“Sorry.” He said and she waved it off.

“Medigel took care of it. We might just need to get those talons of yours dulled a little.”

“I think I saw something that would do it the last time I was on the Citadel. I’ll pick them up if they’re still there.” Tarquin said, “I have to go make final preparations for the transition. I’ll see you later?”

“Let me know when you’re all set and I’ll meet you on the CIC.” He gave her hand a final squeeze before he moved off, heading for the elevator.

She waited for a bit before calling the elevator, heading down to the shuttle bay, deciding that she would just eat later.

“Hey, thought I might find you here.” James looked up from the workstation, seeing Persephone there leaning against a support.

“Hey.” He echoed, looking back down. “All packed and ready to go?”

“I don't really have a lot of stuff.” She admitted. “Tarquin has a small apartment on Zakera, we’re going to be staying there.”

“You're going to live with him, really?” He looked up at her then and she scowled at his condescending tone.

"It's not like I have a lot of options, Vega.”

“You could stay.”

”Shepard’s already given the go ahead.” Persephone said, “After what happened on Tuchanka, she’d prefer it if I wasn't on the Normandy and Kaidan wants to spend more time with me.”

“You still could stay.”

”What do you have against Tarquin?” She asked.

“I don't have anything against him.”

”Then what's your problem, James?”

“I want you stay.”

“Why?”

“Because I want you here on the Normandy.”

“Again, why?” She asked again and he felt his frustration rising. He pushed away from the workstation, turning to face her.

“Because I...don't want you living on the Citadel. What if something happens and we’re light years away?”

“And how is living on the Citadel more dangerous than on a frigate that actively flies into war zones?”

“I don't want you living with Lieutenant Victus.” He said, “I think you guys are moving too fast and need to slow it down a little.”

“I'm a big girl, James, I can take care of myself.” She said, “Why do you want me to stay on the Normandy, really? No bullshit answers.” James paused, staring at her as she waited for an answer. He wanted to kiss her, pull her into his arms and kiss her breathless until she forgot all about Tarquin and leaving the Normandy.

“Never mind.” He said, “Go, live on the Citadel, I don't care. Have a nice life with Lieutenant Victus.” She made a small sound, pushing away from the crate and moving around him.

“That's what I thought. Goodbye, James.” He didn't watch as she left the shuttle bay, but when she was gone he let out a harsh sound of anger, lashing out, his fist connecting with the punching bag and making it swing.


	24. Chapter 24

Kaidan was waiting for her just outside the airlock and her bag dropped to the floor as he pulled her into a bone-crushing hug.

“Can’t...breathe.” She wheezed and he let her go.

“I’m sorry, it’s just that when Madeline told me what happened on Tuchanka, I wanted to be there and I  _ hated _ that I couldn’t, and…” He said and she was the one to hug him this time, albeit gentler than the one he gave her.

“Thank you.” She said and he held her, sighing into her shoulder. Persephone pulled away from him and he brushed her hair from her face, looking into eyes that were identical to his own. “Kaidan, this is Lieutenant Tarquin Victus.” She said and he turned, seeing the Turian standing there a bit awkwardly, not wanting to intrude. “Tarquin, this is my father, Spectre Kaidan Alenko.” He stared at him for a moment before turning back to Persephone.

“So I hear the M-92 Mantis sniper rifle has increased range and---”

“Kaidan!” Persephone exclaimed and he laughed.

“I’m joking, Persephone. I  _ had  _ to get one dad line in there somewhere.” Kaidan said, still smiling. “Oh, Madeline told me to tell you that when you're all settled in, to meet her at Purgatory. She's in meetings with the Councilors and C-Sec and if she's not outside the club, to wait for her.”

“Okay.” Persephone said, a little confused as to why Shepard would ask to meet her at a club.

“I have to head back to Embassies.” Kaidan said a little reluctantly,  “But I wanted to see you when you got off the ship.” He pulled her into another hug, “I’ll call you later, we can have dinner or something.”

“I’d like that.” She said and he gave her one last smile before walking off to the elevator.

“Let’s go.” Tarquin said and she grabbed her bag, slinging it over her shoulder as they headed for the transport station.

The trip to Zakera Ward was filled with his nervous chattering and she watched him for a bit with an amused smile on her face before she reached over and took his hand in hers, fingers moving over his talons. His mandibles twitched in an embarrassed smile, his neck darkening just a little.

His apartment was in a sector of the Ward that was mostly Turian, but with a few Quarians working in shops or cafes. Persephone noticed the farther they went, the more she got looks from the other residents, so she took her hair down from the twist she had put it in, rifling through it a little with her fingers to cover her face, shielding herself from their gazes. Tarquin didn’t seem to notice, but then he wouldn’t,  _ he _ didn’t stand out like a human did.

The apartment was flanked by others on both sides, and the door beeped when he put in his access code. The air was stale inside and he waved his hand over a sensor on the wall, fans and processors in the ceiling starting up to circulate the air.

“Sorry it’s a little dusty,” Tarquin said as they walked further into the apartment, lights turning on overhead, “I haven’t really been here much since the war started.”

“It’s fine.” Persephone and he gently took her bag from her, heading off a ways and leaving her to follow.

“We’ll have to go grocery shopping, get some levo food in the fridge for you, all I have is dextro and it’s probably not any good anymore.” He said and she stopped him, holding his hands in hers.

“Tarquin,” He met her eyes, “It’s fine.” He gave a sigh, looking at her with soft eyes. Taking one of his hands from hers, he reached up to hold the side of her face and hesitated a moment before leaning into her, pressing his mouth to her lips. She kissed him back easily, her arms weaving around his narrow waist.

“Spirits.” He sighed, resting his forehead against hers for a moment before he kissed her again, deeper this time, parting her lips and slipping his tongue past her lips to slide against hers. When he pulled back after a while with a gasp, her eyes were dark and heavy-lidded, a flush to her cheeks. Tarquin picked her up easily, carrying her to the bedroom and laying her on the blankets, crawling after her and pushing her back against the pillows with another kiss as he hooked the pull on her sweater and dragged it down.

Clothes were shed quickly and he knelt over her, running his hand down her bare form, talons leaving faint red lines on her skin. Reaching, he cupped her breasts in his hands, squeezing and shaping them, the tiny gasps and moans she gave out spurring him on and making the plates covering his groin start to shift.

“Tarquin.” She sighed his name, almost in a plea and he very carefully took the peak of one breast into his mouth, swirling around it with his tongue, feeling her hands on his crest. Persephone arched up into him as he let out a low mating trill against her neck, sliding a hand under her hips and tilting her up to meet him. Tarquin gave a hiss as he emerged from behind the plates, brushing against her and he kissed her as he aligned them, pressing a hand against her stomach as he pushed into her. He felt her tense slightly at the feeling, her inner muscles clenching around him briefly before she relaxed.

Persephone clung to him as he started to move slowly, the feel of him moving inside her just as strange now as it was last night. The friction built into something pleasurable, a shudder racing down her spine as his movements inside her became slick and easy, whimpering even as he panted softly in her ear. A tight coil started building in her lower stomach, sending heat through her veins, her whimpers and moans gaining in pitch and she starting hurdling towards...something. Tarquin started to move faster, going to his knees and holding her hips as the pace of his quickened. She could feel herself approaching a peak of some kind, her biotics crackling over her skin like electricity but just as she was about to go over, he seated himself in her with a shout and she felt warmth pool inside her.

Breathing heavily, he laid next to her and she felt the feeling fade, her body backing away from whatever she had almost achieved, leaving her feeling tense and unsatisfied. He pulled her against him, nuzzling into her hair before pressing a kiss to her cheek.

“I have to go to work, I should have been there already.” He said, but he sounded reluctant to leave her.

“Go on.” She said with a reassuring smile, “I’m meeting Shepard anyway.” Persephone worked her way under the musty smelling blanket while he was getting cleaned up, giving him another smile as he pressed a kiss to her hair before leaving. She laid there for a bit, listening to the silence of the apartment, already missing the throbbing hum of the Normandy’s drive core. Eventually, she got up, grabbing toiletries out of her bag that he dropped by the door and heading into the bathroom with a change of clothes. She didn’t own anything that would be worn to a club, not that she had any idea what one wore to a club, so she stuck with her basic jeans and sweater, thin slippers on her feet. Her wet hair was pulled into a twist at the back of her head and she set out from the apartment, locking the door behind her. Tarquin had neglected to tell her the passcode for the door, but she could always message him and get it later.

Shepard had set her up with a modest “allowance”, the amount was arbitrary, something they had discussed. Madeline had wanted to give her more, but Persephone had talked her out of it. She didn’t buy anything besides necessities. Shepard had only agreed on the condition that if she did  _ need _ something and she couldn’t afford it, that she let her or Kaidan know and they would buy it for her, and that they wouldn’t accept any attempts to pay them back.

“Parental right.” Shepard had said.

Persephone took a taxi to Purgatory, able to hear the throbbing bass of the music inside before she landed. It instantly started a throbbing of it’s own behind her right eye and she contemplated sending Shepard a message saying she wasn’t able to make it, but the Commander spotted her before she was able to make up her mind.

“Persephone!” She genuinely looked happy to see her and Persephone gave her a smile for her benefit, hugging her back when she was pulled into her arms. “All settled in, kiddo?”

“More or less.” She said with a shrug when she pulled away and Shepard wrapped an arm around her shoulders, leading her to the entrance.

“You’re probably wondering why I asked to meet you here.”

“Figured you would get around to telling me eventually.”

“A friend of mine likes to spend her shore leave here.” Shepard said, “And I want you to meet her.”

“Okay?” Persephone asked, but she didn’t elaborate, navigating her through the crush of people, Persephone trying very hard not to stare at the scantily clad dancers up on the platforms. They wove their way to the tables down a level from the dance floor, a woman already sitting there looking at data pads. She was daringly dressed in a bandage top and leather half jacket, every inch of skin she could see save for her face was covered in tattoo work of no discernible theme. Her head was partially shaved, the top kept long and pulled back in a ponytail.

“Jack!” Shepard exclaimed and the woman looked up, her eyes darting from Shepard to Persephone and back to Shepard.

“Shepard, what the fuck are you doing here?” Jack asked and Madeline snorted in amusement.

“I can’t want to go to a club?”

“You? Miss Goody-Two-Shoes?” She gave a sound of amusement. “Not fucking likely.”

“Okay, Aria wanted to see me.” Shepard said, “Anyway, Jack this is Persephone.”

“Hi.” Persephone said with a brief wave, tearing her eyes away from the tattoos and the scarring underneath it. Jack hadn’t failed to notice this and instantly went on the offensive.

“You got a fucking problem?” Jack asked, standing from her seat.

“Jackie…”

“Not talking to you, Shepard. Talking to her.” Jack said, “If you take a fucking holo, it’ll last longer.”

“It’s not that, it’s just…”

“Just fucking what?”

“Your scars, they…”

“They fucking what? Spit it out.”

“They look like mine.” Persephone said and the mood suddenly shifted.

“They look like…” Jack repeated slowly. “What the fuck, Shepard! They did it again!”

“It wasn’t another Pragia, Jack.” Shepard said, “I found Persephone in a Cerberus compound, yes, but she’s not entirely like you.”

“What do you mean?” Jack asked.

“I was pregnant when the first Normandy went down.” Shepard said, moving her head at Persephone and Jack looked back and forth between them again, just now noticing the resemblance.

“Holy fuck!” Jack exclaimed, “Who’s the dad? That Alliance asshole?”

“Yes, Kaidan is her dad.” Shepard said with a roll of her eyes.

“Well, shit, Madeline. Congratulations, I guess.” Jack said.

“Aria is waiting.” Shepard said and pulled Persephone into another hug. “She’s abrasive, but she’s a good person. Don’t let her push your buttons.” She whispered into her ear before letting her go, moving past her up the stairs to a platform.

“You’re getting a drink.” Jack said and grabbed Persephone’s arm, pulling to the bar.

“I don’t drink alcohol.” Persephone protested.

“You fucking do now!” Jack exclaimed and Persephone couldn’t help but smile.

James was grabbing a late dinner in the mess hall, having sat out this shore leave in lieu of things he needed to get done. It was rare that he chose work over play, but it happened. There was a thought that he should bring Persephone something before he stopped himself, remembering that she wasn’t down under Engineering anymore.

“You know what? I’m kind of glad she’s gone.” It was a female crew member that said it. Private Sutherland? Westmoreland? He couldn’t remember, but it made him pay attention. “She always kind of creeped me out, lurking under Engineering.”

“Adams said she never went into Engineering.” The crew member across the table from her pointed out.

“So? A lot of wiring and pipes are down there, who knows  _ what _ she did.”

“EDI would have told the Commander if she had done anything.” The Private made a rude noise at that.

“Don’t even get me started on EDI. A former Cerberus AI now in a Cerberus built robot body? That has disaster written all over it.” She said, and James noticed the Commander come into the mess, Shepard making hand motions at him to keep him quiet. “And speaking of Commander Shepard; isn’t it a little strange how  _ that girl _ managed to gain not only her trust, but the trust of her ground team and senior crew members? And so quickly? Cerberus  _ built _ Persephone, literally created her, and Shepard basically gave her the run of the ship within a couple of days and was taking her on missions.”

“I heard somewhere that she’s Shepard’s daughter, or something.”

“Yeah, okay.” Another rude sound, “How old was she when she had her? Ten?”

“You can do a lot with genetic modification these days.”

“Yeah, including making someone look like they’d be related to someone else.” 

"Persephone has done nothing to deserve your mistrust.” The two suddenly shot out of their seats when Shepard spoke up. “She’s kept quietly to herself, and trust me, she knew she wasn’t exactly  _ well received  _ by others on the ship. Persephone earned my trust by being a good person, by being dependable and capable and not a liability.”

“Yes, Commander.” The female Private said and Shepard dismissed her with a look, heading over to where James was standing at the counter.

“Hey, Lola.” James said.

“Hey, James.” Shepard said as she unlatched and opened the fridge, grabbing a Tupari. “You okay?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” He asked and she gave him a look.

“Persephone is living on the Citadel now.”

“Yes, she is.”

“So, are you okay?” She asked and he leveled a look at her.

“I’m fine, Shepard.”

“Okay, Vega, I’ll take your word for it.”


	25. Chapter 25

The next couple of months were rough. Work on the Genophage cure was still spinning it’s metaphorical wheels so Shepard had them running other assignments to fill the time. Disabling a Quarian communications array on Ket’osh that the Reapers had taken over, destroying a Reaper spawning facility on the former Batarian world of Camala (that one would give anyone nightmares), Shepard had them moving full time. So when they docked at the Citadel for a necessary resupply, it was a welcome reprieve.

He and Steve left the ship together, heading through the press of soldiers and civilians at the docks to the transport station.

“Where are we going, Vega?” Steve asked as he called a cab.

“Armax.” James said and the pilot gave him a look.

“You’re trading in real combat for simulated combat?” He asked.

“I just want to see how my scores are holding up.” James said in his defense and Steve made a sound. “Come on, Esteban! You should join me for a round!”

“I’m a lover not a fighter, Mr. Vega.”

“Yeah, Joker told me about that.” James said with a snort and laughed when Steve turned bright red. “Guy gets pretty chatty when he’s drunk. Really though, good for you. Just, you know, be careful.”

“We’re very careful of his Vroliks, James, but thanks.” Steve said and James bumped him with his shoulder.

The taxi landed and Vega transferred credits as Steve made his way to the rankings board.

“I think cab fare went up, Esteban.” James remarked as he joined him, “I don’t remember it hurting so much.”

“Vega, look.” Steve said and James looked up at the board.

  1. Aria T’Loak
  2. Commander Shepard
  3. Persephone Shenko



Persephone  _ Shenko? _

“You gotta be shittin me.” James said.

“You guys hear?” A spectator beside them said, “She’s going to be doing Fire Base in about ten minutes. Might want to get your seats now.”

“Who? Persephone?” Steve asked and he nodded enthusiastically.

“She’s got a bit of a fanbase in the Arena.” He said.

“Isn’t fire base a team run?” James asked.

“Sure is, but she always does it solo.”

“How?” Steve asked.

“Stealth cloak, tactics, and a big fucking knife.” The guy said, “Seriously, it’s almost as long as her arm. I mean, I think I’ve seen her group up with one other person, and someone told me he was a  _ Spectre _ .”

“We should go get seats.” Steve said, patting James’ arm. “Thanks for the heads up.”

“Yeah, no problem.” The guy said as they moved off towards Fire Arena. It wasn’t packed, but it was decently full of people waiting for the match to start.

“Fire Base will be commencing in two minutes.” The announcement came over the loudspeakers and they settled into their seats, waiting for the screens to come up.

“I can’t believe she still has that knife.” Steve said as they waited and James made a sound of agreement.

“What’s up with that last name though?” James wondered aloud, “Shenko?”

The lights in the area dimmed and the screens lifted, displaying the surround view of the Arena. Simulated Cerberus soldiers filtered through the area, guns raised and scanning. James straightened in his seat, a scowl on his face when he couldn’t see where Persephone was. There was a sudden shout and the point counter came to life, the spectators cheering as a soldier pixelated and fell away, Persephone in armor he had never seen before appearing where the “dead” soldier had been. The others opened fire on her location, but she vanished again with the tactical cloak.

There was the sound of biotics and several soldiers fell away as they were hit with a Warp field, Persephone appearing, dodging simulated bullets as she moved swiftly around the area. Like with the missions she ran when she was on the Normandy, she didn’t touch the pistol on her hip, using her biotics and blades to take out enemies. The point counter steadily climbed higher with every “kill” and the crowd cheered as she biotically charged the long blade she had, slashing at Troopers and leaving a fiery blue arc with every sweep. It was flashy, true, but it seemed to do the job.

The match was over once the last Trooper fell, additional points added onto her score for completing it under a certain time and the screens came down, the lights coming back up again. James and Steve sat there for a little while, not wanting to fight through people trying to get out all at once. It had been almost exhilarating to watch her fight again and James hadn’t realized how much he had missed it until the match started. Since their mini-blowup in the shuttlebay before she left, they hadn’t talked. She asked him for the truth and he hadn’t told her, pushing her away before he had known what he was doing.

They hadn’t talked since then and he missed her; a lot more than he would ever admit.

Once the area was sufficiently empty, he and Steve left, heading for the taxi pad when they both noticed a crowd outside the arena locker room door. Most of the people there were from the spectator box and he brought up his omni-tool.

_ Your fans are waiting _ .

He sent it to Persephone, amused by the situation, but his amusement quickly died at her response.

_ Help. _

“Esteban.” He said simply and they made their way to the crowd of mostly male fans. James was a little grateful in that moment that he was so tall and wide in the shoulders, it made pushing through them to the doors a lot easier, Steve following closely behind. He gave a knock once he was standing in front of it, ignoring the curses and and objections being thrown at him. The door opened and he instantly wrapped an arm around her shoulders, feeling as she curled into his side, head down as she let him lead her through the “admirers” vying for her attention, Steve taking her armor case from her hand. He didn’t fail to notice how a faint tremor ran through her frame and he pulled her tighter against him, keeping her close until they got to the taxi pad.

She was quiet in the taxi, staying pressed against his side until they were far away from Armax before she gave a deep sigh, giving him some room.

"Thank you.” Persephone said, her voice small and he rubbed her arm.

“Don’t worry about it, Jedi.” He said.

“Is it always like that?” Steve asked, sitting across from them and she nodded.

“Security will come and get rid of them if I wait long enough.” She said, “They’re mostly harmless, it’s just the last time a group of about three or four got pissed when I wouldn’t go to Purgatory with them. I noticed them in the Arena when I got there and didn’t want to take any chances.” She finally looked up from her lap, giving them both a gentle smile. “I missed you guys.”

“We missed you, too, Persephone.” James said and she bumped against him affectionately.

“Vega’s been all mopey.” Steve said and James kicked him from across the taxi, making Persephone giggle.

“There’s a biotiball game on in about thirty minutes,” Persephone said, “You guys want to come over to watch it?”

“Who’s playing?” James asked.

“The Maestros and the Hackers, I think.” Persephone said, “I don’t really pay attention to the teams, I just like what they do with their biotics.”

“Is Lieutenant Victus going to be there?” Steve asked, “Does he like biotiball?”

“He’s probably still working.” Persephone said with a shrug. “Tarquin doesn’t get home until late.”

“Everything still going okay with you two?” James asked and Steve shot him a look.

“It was a bit of an adjustment getting used to living together, but we have a system down that works for us.” She said with another shrug. “Tell you the truth, I miss the Normandy.”

“We miss having you there.” Steve said and she nudged him with her foot. “Oh, I’ve been meaning to ask you. How did you come up with that last name you were using at Armax? Shenko?”

“I was Kaidan’s idea seeing I can’t exactly go by “Shepard-Alenko” without people asking questions, so we kind of just…” She gave a shrug, “Mashed the two names together, I guess. Came up with Shenko. It works.”

The taxi landed on Zakera Ward and James caught this fare too after they got out. The three headed further into the Wards, going into the residential district and James noticed as she took her hair down, combing through it with her fingers to hide her face. It seemed like an ingrained action, something she just automatically did now when she walked through the Ward, and one look around told him why. Save for the random C-Sec officer, they were the only humans, and he wasn’t the only one that noticed.

Her omni-tool came up as they stopped at an apartment and the lock flashed green, the door sliding open. The lights came up as they entered the apartment and she told them what was where.

“I want to take a good look at this armor of yours.” Steve said and she gave him a small, embarrassed smile as he laid the armor case on the kitchen counter, flicking open the latches and opening.

“Nice!” James said, peering over his shoulder at the armor inside. It was light armor, only minimal padding and plating covering the high density weave undersuit. The whole suit was built for speed and mobility, not weighing her down with heavy plates or unnecessary accoutrements.

“Kaidan had it made special for me.” Persephone said, “Apparently it’s based off an N7 armor design.”

“I like the color scheme.” Steve said, pointing out the black with dark gold accents.

“Yeah, the Asari that designed it said it brought out my eyes.” She said, smiling at them and fluttering her long eyelashes.

“Steve,” James said, smiling and shaking his head, “Why don’t you go turn the game on?” He gave him a pointed look and Steve quickly got the message, closing the case and heading off into the apartment.

“What’s up?” Persephone asked, giving him a knowing smile.

“I wanted to thank you.” He said.

“For?”

“For pretending that I wasn’t a giant ass to you before you left.”

"Okay, you’re welcome. And?”

“I’m sorry for being a giant ass.” James said with a sigh, “Because I was. A giant ass. And you didn’t deserve that.”

“Thank you.” Persephone said, “I wanted you to give me reason to stay, I was looking for a reason, and you basically told me to get lost. That hurt, Vega.”

“I know. I’m sorry.” James said, “How are things going between you and Tarquin? Really?”

“Let’s just say I’m missing the Normandy more and more, but I don’t want to give up on this yet.” She said and he gave a nod.

“I get you.”

“Also, if it gets really bad, Kaidan just got a new apartment and he said that the second bedroom is mine if I want it.” She said, “It hasn’t gotten there yet, but we are working through some things.”

“Like?”

“He doesn’t like that I spend so much time at Armax, or when I go to Purgatory with anyone that isn’t him. He also doesn’t like it when I have friends over, either Jack or Nora’Vay, a Quarian on her Pilgrimage that works at a cafe down the street.”

“If us being here is going to cause problems---”

“He’ll deal with it.” Persephone said, her voice hardening somewhat and he was reminded ever so slightly of the Commander.

“You know what, though?”

“What?”

“I really did miss you, Jedi.” He said and she gave him a small smile. “Come here.” She stepped into him and he wrapped his arms around her, holding her close.

“I missed you too, James.” She breathed as she relaxed in his arms, “So much.” After a bit she pulled away and he instantly felt the loss. “Why do you always smell good? Goddamn.” He laughed at that, wrapping his arm around her shoulders as he steered her to the living room.

“Let's go watch the game.”


	26. Chapter 26

Pain. Fear. Her implant burned but her biotics were out of reach as she struggled against restraining hands.

“ _Hold her down!”_ The order was barked and she screamed as it felt like she was lit on fire. She could hear herself begging, pleading, for the pain to stop but it didn't. Her voice was small, young, one of a child not an adult.

“ _Persephone…”_ Her name was called but it was dim, faraway. Uncaring and cruel faces filled her view, peering down at her.

“ _The Illusive Man is demanding an update.”_

_“He’ll get an update when we have one! She's incredibly stubborn and she refuses to listen! None of the mental conditioning is holding!”_

_“Put her in the tank again if you have to, but he wants to know if she'll be ready in time.”_

_“Persephone…”_

_“Prep her for the tank!”_

_“No, please!”_ She heard herself beg, but it was no use and there was a stinging in the side of her neck.

“ _Persephone!”_ She jolted awake with a scream, fighting against the hands holding her still. “Spirits! It's me! Persephone, it's me!” The familiar, kind voice broke through and she relaxed, chest burning as she fought to breathe.

“Tarquin?” She asked and he held her, rocking her gently. Her stomach clenched and she vaulted out of bed, running to the bathroom.

Bile burned up her throat as she heaved into the toilet, voiding the nachos and beer James had ordered up when they watched the game. Tears ran down her face as her stomach spasmed painfully and she felt talons very gently pull her hair out of the way.

“You've been having nightmares a lot lately.” Tarquin said as the heaving stopped and she sat there, the toilet cool against her heated face.

“I don't…” she shuddered as her stomach roiled, “I don't want to talk about it.”

“It might help if you--”

“Please, Tarquin, just leave it alone.” He didn’t say anything but helped her stand, leaving the bathroom and going back to bed as she was brushing her teeth again. He was already back asleep when she came out and she grabbed a spare blanket, heading into the living room and curling up on the couch, falling back into a fitful sleep.

Persephone stared at her drink, barely hearing the pounding bass of Purgatory as she sat hunched over the table in her and Jack’s booth. She slept most of the day, but still felt exhausted.

“You good?” Jack asked, looking over at her, and she gave a nod.

“I'm fine, just tired.” She said and Jack gave a snort.

“The boytoy keeping you up at night?”

“Nightmares.”

“Oh, shit. What...what about?” Persephone gave her a look. “Fuck. You're starting to remember, aren't you?” She gave another nod, burying her face in her arm with a sound. After a moment, though, something made her look up and she scanned the room until her eyes settled on a familiar pair.

“I'll be right back.” She said as she got up from the table.

James was talking to Steve when he felt a thunk between his shoulders. There was a gentle press of a biotic aura against his skin mingled with the familiar smell of mint and cedar wood and he turned, immediately wrapping her in his arms, feeling her sigh as he embraced her. He could feel how tired she was in the way she relaxed against him and he pulled away to look at her.

“Shit, Persephone, you look beat.” He said, holding the sides of her face as she peered up at him with tired eyes.

“Haven't been sleeping well. Nightmares. Most nights, it's fine, I can power through it the next day. Last night was bad, though.”

“What’re you doing here? Why aren't you sleeping?”

“Jack’s shipping back out to Palavan tomorrow with her students.”

“And you look like you’re about to fall over.” James said with a shake of his head. “You said the Major has a place with a second bedroom for you, right?”

“On the Presidium.” Persephone said with a nod.

“Lot closer than Zakera Ward. Come on, you’re getting some rack time.”

“James, I’m--”

“Don’t argue with me.” He said and she sighed in defeat, too tired to put up a fight. “Come on.” he said his goodbye to Steve who had been watching the whole exchange and steered Persephone from the club.

“So,” Steve looked over, seeing that Jack had joined him at the bar. “What’s the deal with those two? They fucking or what?”

“It’s...complicated.” Steve said and she gave him a look.

“So that’s a no.”

“That’s a “he was on Shepard’s ground team when she found Persephone in the Cerberus facility she was grown in”.” Steve said.

“Well, shit.” Jack said, “Have to admit, though. They’re kind of hot together.”

Persephone leaned against his shoulder the entire ride up to the Presidium apartments, having put the destination in when James called the taxi. She hated how weak she felt, but it warmed her that James cared so much to make sure she got the rest she needed.

Kaidan wasn’t at the apartment, working during the day in the Embassies, and James scooped her up in his arms bridal style once they were in the door.

“I can walk, you know.” Persephone objected, “I’m not _that_ tired.”

“Shut up and let me take care of you.” James said and she snorted, resting her forehead against his shoulder.

“Second bedroom is the last door on the left.” She said and he carried her there, easing the door open and maneuvering inside the room. It was sparsely furnished with a double bed and short dresser, vid screen on the wall and he could see an attached bathroom just off to the side. Laying her down on the bed, she gave a tired giggle as he pulled off her shoes. “Thank you, mom.”

“You’re welcome, dear.” He quipped back, and covered her up with the spare blanket that was folded at the end of the bed before turning to go.

“Stay?” The request stopped him in his tracks and he turned back to look at her. She was laying on her side, expression pleading and somewhat sad. “Stay with me? I don’t want to be alone.”

“I can call Tarquin--”

“I don’t want Tarquin.” She said simply, “I want you.”

 _You don’t mean that._ He wanted to say it but he didn’t. James knew he shouldn’t, he should tell her to get some rest and leave, but he walked around to the other side of the bed, sitting on the edge to take off his boots before laying down behind her. She turned over, curling against his chest and he wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her closer. Persephone tangled her legs with his, laying her head over his heart as she relaxed against him with a sigh. He’d stay until she was asleep, then he’d leave.

James couldn’t seem to find a comfortable position as he laid there so very carefully, he turned onto his side so he was facing her. Persephone made a small sound right before her eyes opened, looking into his. Nerves tightened his chest as he reached up, holding the side of her face and her eyes closed as she moved into his hand.

_Bad idea. Don’t do it, Vega._

His thumb moved over her cheek, curving down to trace her bottom lip gently and her eyes opened again as her lips parted.

_Don’t do it, Vega. Don’t be that guy._

“Shit.” He whispered and the confused look barely had time to cross over her features before he gave in and kissed her.


	27. Chapter 27

James lay in his cot in the shuttle bay, staring up at the ceiling. They had left the Citadel little more than a day prior, Shepard having recalled everyone early. Mordin had made some kind of breakthrough on the Genophage Cure and they were about another couple days out from Tuchanka.

He couldn’t stop thinking about that kiss he and Persephone had shared. It had been chaste, almost innocent, but the soft, sweet slide her lips against his made him want  _ more _ , want  _ everything _ . The gentle sigh she gave against his lips and the way she pressed back against him let him know that she had wanted it too, and it had taken the willpower of a god to not take it any further than a kiss. The urge to pin her to the bed and make her his had been strong, but he had stopped himself, not wanting to scare her, not wanting her to think that this had been his plan all along. It hadn’t been. Not in the least bit. He had taken her there to rest, not to seduce her.

She had whispered his name when she pulled away, burying her face in his neck and wrapping an arm around his waist, pressing closer to him as she drifted off to sleep. He was left feeling more at ease than he could ever remember being, despite how strongly he wanted her in that moment.

His omni-tool dinged at him and he brought it up.

“Persephone?” He asked as her face came up on the screen.

“Hey.” She said, giving him a shaky smile. “I know it’s late there, did I wake you?”

“No, I was awake. What’s up? What’s wrong?”

“So, Tarquin and I had a fight.” She said, “Again. This one was bad. I’m at Kaidan’s right now, he’s making us dinner.”

“What happened?”

“After you left, I ended up sleeping a lot later than I thought I would and it was pretty late by the time I got back to the apartment.”

“Why didn't you just send him a message and crash at the Major’s?”

“I tried, he didn't respond to any of my messages. Apparently, one of his friends saw us leave Purgatory together and told him.”

“Shit.” James breathed, rubbing a hand over his eyes. “Did you tell him about…”

“No, I didn't.” Persephone said, “I told him that you took me to Kaidan’s because I was falling asleep on my feet, but you left after I was settled. He went off, yelling at me, saying that I was cheating on him and that's why...why…”

“Persephone.”

“Shit.” She looked over her shoulder before getting up and he heard a door close, the view of the room behind her shifting. “James, Tarquin and I haven't… _ done that _ in almost a month.” His brows jumped in surprise. “Yeah. Anyway, I ended up storming out and going right to Kaidan’s.”

“Has Tarquin tried to call you? Sent you any messages?”

“We’re having a late lunch tomorrow to talk.” Persephone said with a sigh.

“Should I apologize for kissing you?” He asked and she gave him a look.

“Do you feel like you have to? I didn't tell Tarquin and nothing else happened.” Behind her calm mask, Persephone was starting to panic. He regretted it, he regretted kissing her, it had been a mistake. She had pushed all of her feelings for James aside when she moved onto the Citadel, focusing on her relationship with Tarquin, and she  _ thought _ she had gotten past them until she saw him again and they all came to the front. The way he had protected her from the press of people outside the locker room at Armax, the smell of spice and gun oil filling her nose, the heat of his large body shielding hers. She loved being near him, being held by him in those strong arms of his, she loved…

No, no,  _ no. _

When he kissed her, it had felt like her chest was going to explode, the feel of his lips on hers making her heart race. The spike of adrenaline had chased away all fatigue and she found herself pressing back against him, sighing against his lips as they moved against hers. He kept it shallow, though she had thought about parting her lips for him, wondering how far he would take it. The thought of being with him in that way made heat curl through her veins, but then a nagging fear started in the back of her mind. What if he  _ didn't  _ want her like that? Even though the way he touched her told her that he did, she couldn't help but have doubts.

Sex with Tarquin felt…strange, bordering on unpleasant at times, and she didn't let him touch her like that anymore, coming up with excuses why she couldn't. The one time she told him she just didn't want to, he got offended and it had sparked another fight, prompting her to go for a long run around the Citadel to try to calm herself. It was then that she started throwing herself into Armax, challenging herself by doing group runs solo and wearing herself down both physically and mentally so she was always almost comatose by the time he got home from work.

“No,” James said, snapping her out of her thoughts, “I’m not going to apologize for doing something I’ve wanted to for…” He paused, “For a long time now.”

“It was...really nice.” Persephone said, feeling a blush come over her face and she caught his smile as she looked away from the screen.

“Yeah, it was.” He said, “Persephone, I--”

“Persephone?” Kaidan’s voice came through her door, “Dinner’s done if you’re hungry, sweetie.”

“I’ll let you go eat.” James said. “We’re on our way to Tuchanka, so we’ll be out of omni-tool range, but I’ll message you when we get back. Okay?”

“Okay.” She said with a nod.

“Goodnight, Jedi.”

“‘Night, Vega.” The display disappeared as her omni-tool shut down, the implant in her wrist warm from the use. Getting up from her seat on the bed, she left her room, Kaidan plating food in the kitchen.

“Hey.” He said, looking up at her and a smile came over his face. “Now there’s a smile I haven’t seen in too long.”

“Shut up da--Kaidan.” She said, but his smile widened, eyes sparkling as he caught the slip.

“You almost called me dad!” He said and she looked away from him, an embarrassed blush coming back to her cheeks. She was suddenly in his arms and she hugged him back as he held her tight. “You almost called me dad.” His tone was a bit more somber as the phrase sank in.

“You are my dad.” She said, surprised at the stinging in her eyes. “Let’s eat before the food gets cold.” She said as she pulled away with a smile, sniffling slightly as she blinked past the tears in her eyes, noticing how his eyes, identical to hers in almost every way, shone with unshed tears as well.

“Want to go for a run a little while after dinner?” Kaidan asked they sat on either side of the kitchen island, starting to dig into the food he made for them.


	28. Chapter 28

Persephone could see Kaidan out of the corner of her eye, keeping pace just behind her and off to the side as they ran through the Presidium. It was night, the shops were closed and the “sky” overhead twinkled with simulated stars. Even the ambient temperature was lowered to mimic night time, and while it wasn’t cold, it was slightly cool on their skin bared by their workout clothes. 

Kaidan was dressed simply in a sleeveless athletic shirt and basketball shorts, beat up sneakers on his feet, Persephone wearing a midriff baring long sleeved top with a hood, running shorts ending about mid thigh and thin slippers. Her hair was pulled up in a haphazard bun at the back of her head, tendrils sticking to the back of her neck with sweat. Kaidan might be stronger physically, but she was lighter and faster, so she set the pace. They worked their biotics as well as their muscles, doing mini-Charges from time to time. It wasn’t a full Charge, not like a member of the Vanguard Initiative would do, there was no force behind it, it was more biotic leaps forward.

“You still with me, old man?” She teased playfully as they stopped by the Presidium gardens, Kaidan leaning against a support to catch his breath.

“I’m good.” He insisted before pushing away from the beam and heading for a conveniently placed Tupari vending machine. “You want one?”

“Lime, if they have it.” Persephone said and he shook his head.

“You got that from your mother.” Kaidan grumbled and grabbed the bottles after they dropped down. He tossed her hers and she caught it, cracking the seal and taking a long pull of the bright green liquid.

“How’s your head?” She asked as they sipped their drinks.

“Starting to ache a little, but I’ll be fine.” He said honestly, taking note of the dull throb forming behind his left eye. It wasn’t bad, not yet, more annoying than anything else. “I’ll let you know if it gets worse.”

“Please do.” Persephone said, “I don’t want to have to carry you to Huerta, you’re heavy.”

“Kids these days.” Kaidan said with a shake of his head, “Ungrateful.” There was an odd feeling of something shifting before a sudden spike of pain lanced from his implant and he jerked as if he were hit.

“Kaidan?” Persephone asked, putting aside her Tupari. His left eye suddenly flared, burning white hot, and he felt something run down his face. His hand shook as he wiped it away, looking at his crimson stained fingers. His implant flared again and he cried out, his knees going weak. “Dad!” She caught him before he fell to the ground, holding him in her lap. She looked up as a C-Sec Officer came running, having heard his shout. “I need a med-evac now!”

Later, Persephone sat in the waiting room of Huerta, still in her running clothes, eyes red and puffy from crying. Tarquin was sitting next to her, holding her hand tightly.

“Persephone Shenko?” She got up as Doctor Michel came out of the patient wards, letting go of Tarquin’s hand and going over to her. Light streamed in through the large windows, the day cycle of the Citadel having started hours ago.

“How is he?” Persephone asked, her voice thick.

“He’s recovering.” She said, “He has you listed as one of his family members?”

“It’s complicated, ask me later. Is he going to be okay? What happened?”

“Late onset complications with his L2 implant due to the head trauma he experienced on Mars. It caused his implant to short.”

“Was there any damage?”

“Nothing serious, nothing we couldn’t fix in surgery.” She said, “We outfitted him with a new implant. He’s still unconscious from the procedure, but I expect him to make a full recovery in just a few days.”

“Thank you, Doctor.”

“Have you been here all night?” She asked and Persephone nodded. “Go home, get some rest. I will have it so you are notified when he wakes up.”

“Thank you.” Persephone said, “Tarquin, I--” She turned, but stopped when she saw him already walking to the exit, not having said a word to her. “Thank you, Dr. Michel.” She said again with a weak smile before she left, taking a taxi to the Presidium apartments. Shepard needed to be told what happened.

Shepard got up from the table in the loft as her comm dinged at her from her desk, setting aside the data pad she had been reading. They were about a day out from Tuchanka and Mordin was busy getting Eve prepped for the procedure, Wrex full of nervous energy, and the Primarch was nervous for other reasons. What if the cure didn’t work? Or they were unable to disperse it? What if the Shroud Facility was destroyed? A thousand ‘what-ifs’.

Opening up the commlink, a smile came over her face when she saw Persephone, but it quickly faded at her expression.

“What happened?” Madeline asked.

“Kaidan’s in the hospital.” Persephone said, wiping a tear away as it rolled down her face. “His L2 implant it...it went bad, I guess.”

“Start from the beginning.” Shepard said evenly, “Now, what happened?”

“We went out for a run after dinner last night…”

Shepard sat in the crew lounge, drink in her hand, staring at the deep blue liquid of some Asari concoction as it swirled around the glass. He was going to be fine. The doctors said he was going to be fine, he’d be on his feet again in a couple of days with a shiny new implant to get used to. The way Persephone had talked, it was almost as if they had  _ expected _ something to happen and were waiting just in case. Why they hadn’t just simply replaced the implant after Mars to begin with, she had no idea.

Speaking to her, it was clear that Persephone and Kaidan had cultivated their father-daughter relationship these past couple months, she had noticed that she called him ‘dad’ a couple times as she was venting her fears tearfully. Shepard wished she could be there for her, so she wouldn't have to be alone during all this. She had Garrus and Liara, even James, to lean on when Kaidan was first hospitalized after Mars. Persephone, it seemed, didn’t have anyone. The fact that she was staying at Kaidan’s, and that Tarquin wasn’t there with her, meant that they must have hit some kind of rough patch.

She would call her again, check in on her, but Persephone had said that she had spent all night awake at the hospital, waiting for Kaidan to get out of surgery, so she’d let her rest.

Persephone lay curled on her bed, hugging her pillow to her chest. Her body was tired, but her mind was awake with worry and fear over Kaidan’s condition. She had never heard of an implant shorting out before, but then her knowledge wasn’t that vast. Madeline had filled her in on the L2 implants checkered past and Persephone kept going over every little detail in her mind, thinking maybe she missed something that could have signaled something was going to go wrong. Was he normally that winded during their runs together? Did he eat less than he usually did at dinner?

A weight settled on the bed behind her, arms coming around her and she was pulled back against a warm chest, the smell of gun oil and spice filling her nose. Soft lips pressed behind her ear and she relaxed, comforted by his nearness. Shifting, she went to turn over to face him, but when she did he vanished like smoke and she woke to the sound of her omni-tool.

“Hello?” Her voice was groggy as she answered the voice call.

“Persephone Shenko?”

“Yes.” She said sitting up in bed, thinking it was the hospital calling to tell her Kaidan was awake.

“My name is Aurelia, I’m Councilor Donnel Udina’s Assistant.” Her heart sank and she gave a sigh. Not the hospital.

“How can I help you?” She asked, wondering why the assistant of humanity’s Councilor was calling her.

“Councilor Udina would like to arrange a meeting with you.” She said and there was a pause. “Ms. Shenko?”

“I’m sorry, I’m just at a loss why he would want to meet with me.”

“He didn’t say. Just to contact you and arrange for you to come to the Embassies to meet with him.”

“Did he say when?”

“At your earliest convenience.” Aurelia said and Persephone gave another sigh.

“I’ll be there in about an hour.” She said.

“Very well, Ms. Shenko. You don’t need to check in at the front desk when you get here, just come directly to Councilor Udina’s office.”

“Got it.”

“I will tell the Councilor to expect you in an hour. Have a good day.”

“Have a good--” The call cut off as Aurelia hung up, “Day.” Persephone sat there for a moment, rubbing sleep from her eyes before she got out of bed, heading to the bathroom for a shower. Maybe that would wake her up.


	29. Chapter 29

The Embassy was busy when she got off the elevator, having taken the taxi from Kaidan’s apartment to the Presidium tower. Remembering the earlier instructions, she bypassed the crowded check in counter and walked down the hall with the offices, stopping in front of door with Udina’s name plaque next to it. There still hadn’t been a message from the hospital and she was starting to worry, but she managed to push that aside when she pressed the button on the screen on the wall, the door opening a moment later. She was expecting to see the Councilor’s Assistant, but was greeted by the Councilor himself.

“Persephone, thank you for agreeing to meet with me. Please, come in.” Udina said stepping aside and she walked past him, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear nervously. The office was open and spacious, with a balcony overlooking the entire Presidium. There was one other person in the room, standing there in the corner facing the room. He was dressed dark in what almost looked like a security uniform, black hair pulled away from Asian features. Dark brown almond shaped eyes were fixed on her and she fidgeted slightly under his gaze. He looked at her as if he knew her. “How is Major Alenko? I was told you were with him when he collapsed. Please, have a seat.” He gestured to a chair opposite his desk and she tore her eyes away from the other man, thanking the Councilor before sitting.

“He’ll be fine.” Persephone said with a reassuring smile, “Doctors say he’ll be up and about in a couple of days.”

“That’s good to hear.” Udina said, “We were all worried when we heard the news, especially after what happened on Mars. Do tell him that, will you?”

“Yes, Sir. I’ll let him know when I see him. They said they would contact me when he woke up.” Persephone said and paused, “I’m sorry,” She said, looking at the man still standing there quietly. “I’m being rude, I didn’t get your name.”

“Kai Chen.” He said, stepping forward with his hand out and she stood to take it, an uneasy shiver running down her spine at the deep rumble to his voice and the way his fingers lingered on her skin after they shook hands.

“Mr. Chen is a member of my private security.” Udina explained, “Recently hired.”

“It’s um...nice to meet you, Mr. Chen.” She said, putting on a smile as she retook her seat.

“Kai, please.” He said with a curl of his lips and she nodded, looking away from him. There was something about this man that made her incredibly uncomfortable.

“Persephone, you’re probably wondering why I asked you here.” Udina said and she gave another nod.

“I was wondering why you wanted to see me.” She admitted sheepishly.

“I wanted to talk to you about Cerberus.” He said, leaning forward at his desk and looking at her over tented fingers.

“I don’t know--”

“Come now, Commander Shepard has already told us about your previous...involvement with Cerberus.” Udina said.

“Did she really?’ Persephone asked, a little hurt that Madeline would share that with them.

“She thought, what with you living on the Citadel, that we should know.”

“Makes sense.” She said, “But I’m sorry, Councilor, I don’t know anything about Cerberus.”

“You were raised in one of their facilities---”

“And they made it a habit of wiping my memory. I barely remember anything about my life in that facility, and even then it’s nothing substantial, nothing that would help anyone. If I remember anything that might be used against them, Shepard would be the first to know, I assure you.” Persephone said.

“Surely you must remember  _ something _ .”

“I really, really don’t. I’m sorry.” Persephone said and stood, “Now, if you’ll excuse me. I can’t help you.” She started for the door, resisting the urge to run even though every fibre of her being was telling her to. There was a rustle of fabric and Chen was in front of the door, blocking her exit. “Please, let me leave.” He gave her an amused look, but didn’t say anything and certainly didn’t move. Her breath caught as he reached for her but she grabbed his wrist, twisting and forcing him away from the door, his face contorting in pain. “You don’t touch me without my permission.” She shoved him away from her and left the office, walking briskly down the hall, only running once she got closer to the elevator.

“Spirited, isn’t she.” Kai said once she was gone, holding his wrist and assessing the damage.

“That would be Shepard’s influence.” Udina said with a sneer. “But it is  _ her _ , yes?”

“Oh yes, that’s her. After all the time we spent together, I’d recognize her anywhere.”

James hummed happily under his breath as he worked at his station, fully aware of the stupid smile on his face. He had zero regrets about kissing Persephone, and his talk with her last night only encouraged him further.

“Okay, Vega.” Steve said, setting down the welder he had been using on the drop shuttle. “You’ve been bouncing around all day. What gives?”

“I’m just in a good mood, Esteban!” He said, turning to look at him with a wide smile.

“Uh huh.” Steve said, looking at him suspiciously. “What’s her name?”

“What makes you think…” Steve leveled a look at him. “You caught me.” James looked around, making sure they didn’t have an audience before walking over. “It’s Persephone.”

“What.” Steve said, “Vega....”

“It was just a kiss.  _ I _ kissed  _ her _ .”

“She’s in a relationship.”

“That’s going down in flames!” James said defensively, his good mood dying. He thought, of all people, that Steve would be happy for him. 

“Did she say she was leaving him?”

“She’s staying at the Major’s.”

“That’s not what I asked, Vega. Did Persephone say she was leaving Tarquin?” Steve asked and there was a pause.

“No, she didn’t.” Vega admitted. “They’re fighting, though.”

“Did she say they were going to work on it?” Another pause.

“Yes.” James said.

"So, let me lay this out for you. Persephone is someone who has very little experience with relationships of any kind, whose current relationship has become a little rocky so it stands to reason that she’s a little confused as to how she’s feeling at this point.”

“Yeah.”

“And then you come along, someone she has a history of being flirtatious with, who has obviously expressed an interest in her.”

“Yeah.”

“And you kissed her.”

“I fucked up.” James said, scrubbing a hand over his face.

“You fucked up.” Steve agreed. “Do  _ not _ call her and apologize once we get in range again. That’ll just confuse her more and probably make her think she did something wrong when really, it was all on you. You should have known better. Spending some time away from the Citadel will be good for the both of you, it’ll give her and Tarquin time to get their stuff figured out. If they end up breaking up, then that’s what happens, but if they work it out and stay together,  _ then that’s what happens. _ ”

“Yeah.” 

“James, don’t get me wrong.” Steve started, “Were it any other time, I would be happy for you. You two have been circling each other for a while, and I can see how bad you got it for her, but now is  _ not _ the time.”

“Yeah.” James said, “I got you.” Good mood sufficiently gone, he turned and went back to work. He needed to check over everyone's weapons and armor anyway, they were due to hit Tuchanka in the morning and everything needed to be ready for the push to the Shroud facility.


	30. Chapter 30

Persephone was making herself a light dinner even though she really had no desire to eat, when her omni-tool dinged at her. 

“Hello?” She asked as she brought it up.

“Persephone Shenko? This is Huerta Memorial.”

“Yes, hi!” She stopped what she was doing, turning off the burner on the stove.

“Major Alenko is awake and he’s asking for you.”

“I’ll be there in twenty minutes.” She said, hopping as she pulled her shoes on and rushed from the apartment, making sure the door was locked before heading for the taxi pad.

She got his room number from the front desk and barely resisted running, heading through decontamination into the recovery ward. She could see him sitting up in the hospital bed, talking to Doctor Michel and the door opened as she approached it.

“Persephone!” Kaidan said, smiling wide as he saw her, “Are you--oof!” The air was knocked from his lungs as she nearly tackled him in a hug and he held her tightly, passing a hand over her hair and pressing a kiss to her forehead. “I’m fine, kiddo, I’m fine.”

“You nearly weren’t, you ass!” She said, pulling away and smacking at his chest, tears welling in her eyes. “You terrified me!”

“I know, I’m sorry.”

“I told you to tell me if your headache was going south! I told you!”

“It wasn’t that bad before my implant shorted. I swear, it wasn’t.” He reached for her, pulling her into his arms again, tugging until she was sitting across his lap, curled against his chest, “Come here, it’s okay, I’m fine.” Kaidan held her, hand rubbing her back in soothing motions.

The fabric of the shirt he wore was soft against her cheek, the unique smell of him filling her nose. He smelled like lightening storms mixed with a deep, rich scent that reminded her of the air outside the facility where she was raised. Dark earth and dense trees. To her, those smells used to be bad, conjuring up vague memories that she would like to forget, but they were being replaced by memories of care and acceptance, of his laugh and the gentle way he held her in his arms whenever he somehow knew she needed a hug. He smelled like home and family, two things she never truly had until Madeline, until her mother, took her from that place.

“Your daughter?” Doctor Michel asked, watching them with a soft smile and he nodded. “I thought perhaps your sister, given your physical similarities, but seeing you two together...how old were you when you fathered her?”

“Persephone was rapidly aged to adulthood.” Kaidan said, “She’s only about two years old, chronologically.” Persephone didn’t say anything, staying quiet as she had nothing to add.

“Two years…” Her brow furrowed, “Commander Shepard is her mother?”

“Yes.” Kaidan said, “Do you understand why we’ve been keeping it to ourselves?”

“Because Commander Shepard was brought back by Cerberus,” Doctor Michel said, “Which means Persephone was recovered by Cerberus.”

“Exactly.” Kaidan said, “But she’s my daughter, mine and Madeline’s.” There was a pause. “Did you really call me an ass?” He asked, looking at her.

“You deserved it.” She said, her arm tightening around his chest and he laughed, holding her tighter. 

“I'll let you slide on that.”

“I'll give you two some privacy.”

“Thank you, Doctor Michel.” Kaidan said and Persephone echoed it as she left.

“So how are you, really?” She asked after a moment of silence.

“I’m...good.” Kaidan said, “The new implant feels different, it’s a different configuration, but hey, for the first time in over twenty years, I don’t feel on the verge of a migraine.”

“Have you taken it for a test drive yet?” She asked, picking her head up to look at him.

“Not yet. Doctor’s haven’t given me a new amp to use for it, the amp port is different than my last.” He said and let her go when she slid off his lap.

“Dad, I...I had an uncomfortable meeting with Councilor Udina today.” She said and his brow furrowed.

“What did Donnel want?”

“He wanted to talk about Cerberus. Apparently Madeline told him and the other Councilors my…” She paused, searching for the right word. “Origin.”

“I know she told C-Sec so they could keep an eye on you, just in case Cerberus tried something while you were living here, but I didn’t know she told the Council.” He said, still scowling. “He asked you about Cerberus?”

“He wanted to know about them, anything I could tell him.” Persephone said, “I told him I didn’t know anything, at least nothing that would help, and If I  _ did _ know anything, that I would tell you and Shepard.”

“I’ll talk to him.” He said with a sigh, “If C-Sec thought you might have known something, they would have questioned you after you started living here. Councilor or not, what he did was uncalled for.”

“It wasn’t even that, though. The newest member of his private security was there and he...creeped me out.”

“How so?”

“The way he looked at me, I don’t know, it just made me very uncomfortable. When I went to leave, he tried to stop me.”

“Did he touch you?”

“He tried.” Persephone said, her voice hardening somewhat.

“That’s my girl.” Kaidan said with a small, proud smile. “What are your plans for tomorrow?”

“Tarquin and I were supposed to have lunch today, but with everything going on…” She shook her head, “He sent me a message rescheduling it for tomorrow.”

“You guys are going to work things out?” Kaidan asked, “I know you two have been having a hard time lately.”

“We’re going to talk things over. See if we can fix it.”

“I just want you to be happy, Persephone.” Kaidan said and squeezed her hand when she reached out and held his.

“I’ll leave you to rest.” She said, “Do you want me to stop by tomorrow?”

“Only if you want to.” He said, “Doctor Michel said they’re thinking about giving me an amp, see how well my system is adapting to the new implant.”

“If you’d like, I can teach you a meditation technique I know. You’ll get to see why Steve and James call me Jedi.” She offered and he gave a short laugh.

“Okay, sweetheart.” He said, “Go get some sleep, you look tired.”

“You don’t exactly look like the picture of health yourself, oh other half of my genetics.”

“You get your sass from your mother. I hope you know that.” Kaidan said, pointing a finger at her.

“I’m sure she’s very proud.”

“Knowing Madeline? Probably.” Persephone squeezed his hand one last time before she left the room, the door closing behind her.


	31. Chapter 31

Shepard cured the Genophage. It was all over the extranet when she got up the next morning. Commander Shepard cured the Genophage and Krogan troops were being dispatched to Palavan by order of Urdnot Wrex to combat the Reaper forces. The news, apparently, had garnered a mixed response. Some were calling it the biggest mistake she could ever make, that it would only lead to another bloody and brutal Krogan Rebellion. Others were saying that it was long overdue, and it should have been cured years ago when the Krogan started facing extinction due to their quickly dwindling numbers.

In their last conversation, James had mentioned contacting her again when they were back in omni-tool range. Did that mean that they were coming back to the Citadel? Tuchanka was a least a two day trip with the Mass Relays and FTL travel.

Her omni-tool bleeped at her and she brought it up, setting her mug of coffee down on the kitchen island.

_ Persephone- _

_ I can't make it to lunch. _

_ Tarquin _

Nothing more than that. No apology, no reason as to why, just...he couldn’t make it. Once again she got the feeling that he simply liked the idea of being in a relationship with her, but had no intention of putting any effort into making it work. Even as inexperienced as she is, she knew that if you truly wanted something, that you worked for it.

Without thinking, she tried to send a message to James, but immediately received a “This user is out of range” message back. Of course he was out of range. Jack was deployed with her students to Palavan, Nora’Vay was coming up as Busy on her contacts list (not surprising, she worked long hours at the cafe), and a quick call to Huerta and she was told that Kaidan wasn’t able to receive visitors until later.

Persephone sat there in the quiet apartment for a bit before finishing her coffee, heading into her room and getting changed out of her pajamas, grabbing her armor case. She’d waste some time in Armax, it seemed, maybe do one of the more difficult runs.

Armax was decently busy when she got out of the taxi after paying the fare. A quick look at the leaderboards and she saw that she was still third in place for every arena except for Gold. Well, that wouldn’t do at all. Gold was a Reaper run, an instance built off of combat data. Queuing up for the instance, she headed for the small cafe the Arena had for those who were also waiting; her omni-tool would let her know when she was due up.

She sat at one of the tables by the entrance, reading the news on her omnitool when a shiver ran down her spine.

“Persephone.” She looked up, seeing Udina’s security guard there.

“Mr. Chen, hello.”  She said, forcing herself to give him a small smile. “How’s your wrist? I didn’t damage it too badly, I hope.”

“My wrist is fine, thank you for asking.”  He said, giving her a small head bow. “I certainly won’t make the mistake of getting in your way again.”

“Well, it’s always nice when one learns from their mistakes.” She said, “What’re you doing here? Shouldn’t you be at the Embassy?”

“I’m on a break, thought I’d head down here and see who is doing runs.” He said, sliding into the chair across from her without asking. “Are you queued?”

“I am. Gold Arena.”

“Maybe I’ll watch you fight.”

“That’s your choice.” There was a beep from her wrist and she got up, Chen getting up with her. “I’m up.” She reached down, grabbing her armor case and left the cafe quickly, feeling his eyes boring a hole into her back.

Her biotics hummed through her veins as she Threw Husks out of her way, taking out Cannibals with Warp fields, slashing at those that got too close with her blade. She couldn’t see the spectators sitting in the seats, but she knew he was there, could almost feel him watching her and it made her skin crawl. The familiarity of which he looked at her made her uneasy, but he didn’t look familiar to her at all. Persephone just chalked it up to his job as security and the fact that she was closely linked to two Spectres and Cerberus; there was a probably a file somewhere on her.

If he tried to touch her again, she’d kick his ass and then tell Kaidan and C-Sec. Just because he was private security for a Councilor did not mean he deserved special treatment.

She used her biotics to leap around the arena to keep from being surrounded before deploying a crowd favorite: biotic whips. The streams of dark energy whipped around the arena, cutting through the simulated enemies, driving them together in predictable patterns, Propelling herself up with a pulse, she slammed back down again with a Nova, her implant burning with the amount of energy she was putting out. The last enemy fell away and she sat heavily on the floor of the arena, her chest burning as she took in deep breaths. She may have gone a little overboard with that last display.

“Are you okay, Ms. Shenko?” She heard and looked up, seeing one of the Arena employed medical staff standing there. Someone must have called them when she sat down and didn’t immediately leave the Arena.

“I’m good. I just pushed myself a little too hard.” She said and he reached into his bag, pulling out a couple energy fruit bars. She took them and his hand when he offered it, letting him help her to her feet. He walked with her as she removed her helmet, hooking it to her belt so she could munch on the bars. The medic left her outside the locker room and she sat on the bench in there for while after taking off her armor, stowing it back in its case. The air of the locker room was cool against her skin, bared by the tank and running shorts she wore under her armor.

Pulling her normal clothes back on, she grabbed her armor case and headed out of the locker room. There was a small crowd of her more dedicated “fans” waiting for her outside but she pushed through them with gracious thanks for their continued support.

“You should come to Purgatory with me and my buddies!” One suggested, “It’ll be fun!”

“Thank you for the offer but not today.” She said, giving him a small smile. Persephone saw him bristle at the rejection, and he pushed closer to her, starting to follow her back to the taxi pad.

“You should be nicer to me, you know!” He said, anger accenting his voice, “I’m in the Alliance, going to be stationed on the Normandy!”

“Really?” Persephone asked, not believing him in the least bit, “Congratulations. I’m still not having a drink with you.”

“I don’t have to come down here and watch you fight!” he said, “You should be thanking me! I’m doing you a favor!”

“You’re right, you don’t have to come down here, and I have thanked you. Now please, leave me alone.”

“Listen, bitch!” He reached out a grabbed her arm, hard. In a move, she dropped her armor case, wrapping her fingers around his wrist and squeezing. He let out a sound of pain as the bones ground together and his grip loosened.

“Fuck off.” She said, letting go of his wrist and he glared at her, holding his wrist as he walked away. Picking up her armor case again, she called the taxi, taking it back to Kaidan’s apartment.


	32. Chapter 32

Persephone ran through her morning exercises, both biotic and muscular, her hair in a twist at the top of her head. She was about to head into the shower when her omnitool beeped at her. Instead of answering it on her wrist, she hooked into the apartment commlink, the screen coming up.

“Hey.” She said with a smile as James looked back at her.

“Hey, Jedi.” He said with an answering smile, “I catch you a bad time? You look a little...hot.”

“No, I was just finishing up my workout.” She said and his eyes narrowed slightly. “What?”

“You have bruises on your arm.” He said and she looked at it, seeing the dark smudges on her skin. “It looks like someone grabbed you.”

“Someone did.” She said, “They regretted it shortly thereafter.”

“Who was it?” James asked, “So I can kick his ass.”

“James.”

“I’m joking! Maybe.” He said, “Really, though. Who was it?”

“Some asshole outside Armax who took offense to the fact that I wouldn’t go drinking with him.” She said, “Said he was Alliance about to be assigned to the Normandy.”

“Did he now?” James said, “Well, if we take on any new people, I’ll let you know.”

“He should be pretty easy to spot.” Persephone said, “He’ll have a busted wrist.”

“I’ll keep an eye out.” James said, “What you got planned for today?”

“Tarquin and I are having lunch, if he doesn’t cancel on me again, and then I thought I’d visit Kaidan.” Persephone said.

“Shepard told us he was in the hospital again.” James said, “That must have been tough, I wish I could have been there for you.”

“You had a pretty decent reason why you couldn’t, there Vega.” She said, “But thanks. What about you? You have anything planned for the day?”

“We’re a couple hours out from the Citadel, Shepard has a meeting with one of the Councilors. Thought I might hit up Armax or Purgatory.” James said.

“Want to do a run together?” She offered, “It’s been awhile.”

“Yeah, I’d like that.” He said with a small smile and she found herself smiling back. There was a distant shout and he looked towards it. “Duty calls. See you later, Jedi.”

“Later, Vega.” The screen went dark and she shut down the commlink, her omnitool going dark as well. She stood there for a little bit before shaking her head with a smile, heading into her bathroom to shower.

Her hair was still damp as she met Tarquin at Apollo’s on the Presidium, sticking her hands in her hoodie pockets as she stood there for a bit, looking at his back as he sat facing the Presidium gardens. With a sigh, she moved, going over the table and giving him a smile as she sat down.

“Hey.” She said and his mandibles twitched slightly in a smile of his own.

“Hey.” Tarquin said and silence stretched between them. “How’s the Major?”

“He’s good.” She said with a nod, “Should be up and about any day now. He called and told me they ran some tests on his new implant. His system is taking the switch well and his biotics are stronger than ever.”

“That’s good.” He said and there was silence again. “I’m sorry, Persephone.”

“For what?”

“Not trusting you.” He said, “When the Karnis told me that you left Purgatory with Lieutenant Vega, I...”

“Nothing happened, Tarquin.” Persephone said, “Nothing.”

“I know.”

“But that’s not all.” Persephone said, “You didn’t want me to have a life. You didn’t want me going out, meeting new people, experiencing new things.”

“I was trying to protect you.”

“I don’t need your protection.” Persephone said, “I’m not a child. I needed to move, to...grow and you wouldn’t let me.”

“I thought if you went out and...explored, you’d realize that I wasn’t what you wanted.” Tarquin said, “And it’s stupid. I held onto you so tightly that I lost you.”

“You wanted to keep me like I was pet human.” She said and he was quiet, looking down as he tapped his talons on the tabletop, “I needed a partner, not a keeper, and I tried to make this work, tried to include you in things but you kept brushing me off. The only thing you ever seemed to want me for was...” She stopped, biting back the words.

“I know.” He said and there was a pregnant pause. “This isn’t going to work, is it.”

“No, Tarquin, it isn’t.” Persephone said and his nose plates twitched as he sniffled. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I’m the one who killed us.” Tarquin said and he stood when she got up from the table. “Can I have a hug goodbye?”

“Of course you can.” She said, smiling even as tears blurred her vision. He pulled her into his arms and she settled against him.

“I’ll make sure the rest of your things are brought to the Major’s apartment.” He said, pressing his cheek to her hair as his hand rubbed her back. “Goodbye, Persephone.”

“Goodbye, Tar--” There was a distant boom of an explosion and they parted, looking around. “What was that?” Her omni-tool rang and she brought it up. “Dad?”

“Persephone! Thank god!” Kaidan sounded panicked, “Where are you? Are you at the apartment?”

“I’m on the Presidium with Tarquin, what’s--”

“Cerberus is attacking the Citadel, I just evaded some of their troops at the hospital.” He said and her heart clenched as her blood ran cold. “I need you to get home and stay there.”

“I can help! I just need to--”

“Persephone! That’s an order!” The command in his voice was unmistakable, “I doubt they’re here just for you, but we can’t rule it out as one of their objectives. Lieutenant Victus!” He moved around her so he could talk into the omni-tool.

“Yes, Sir?”

“Get her to my apartment and keep her safe! You’re her last line of defense, you got that?”

“Yes, Sir!”

“Where will you be?” Persephone asked.

“I’m headed to the Embassy, I need to get to the Council.” Kaidan said, “I have to go.”

“Dad, be careful.”

“You too, sweetheart. I’ll find you when it’s over.” The omni-tool went dark.

“We have to go, come on.” Tarquin said and grabbed her arm, but she didn’t move, watching as Cerberus drop shuttles flew past. “Come on, Persephone!” There was a beat as she waged war with herself before she let out a sound of frustration, letting Tarquin pull her away from the Presidium.


	33. Chapter 33

Shepard, James, and Garrus hit the ground running, firing on the Cerberus troops on the C-Sec shuttlepad. Garrus took up a high position behind cover, using his rifle to pick off Engineers as they attempted to set up turrets. There was an explosion after James lobbed a grenade and Shepard overloaded a Troopers armor, finishing them off with controlled bursts from her rifle.

“Shepard!” She heard once the area was clear, “Over here!” It was Bailey, sitting against the wall, hand to his side. His face was pale, but he regained some color after Garrus administered medi-gel. “Thanks for the assist, Shepard.”

“Any time.” She said, “What the situation?”

“We’re getting fucked with our pants on, that’s the situation. Cerberus took control of C-Sec almost immediately, locked it down, my boys didn’t stand a chance. Must have had sleepers in the ranks.” He said as he got to his feet.

“Wouldn’t be the first time.” She said.

“Watch my back while I get the door.” He said as he started to hack the lock. It flashed green after a bit and he hobbled his way inside. “What’re you doing here, Shepard?”

“Saving your ass, apparently.” Shepard said, “Councilor Valern wanted to speak with me, said it was important.”

“Valern had a meeting with the Executor when shit hit the fan.” Bailey said as he went through the consul, “He’s probably holed up in his office. I’d start there.”

“Thanks.” She said and locked eyes with James, “Bailey?”

“Yeah?”

“Has Persephone or Lieutenant Victus checked in? Knowing them, they’ll want to help push back Cerberus.”

“Haven’t heard anything yet, but I get in touch with my guys on the ground and tell them to keep an eye out.” Bailey said, “You think Cerberus might try to take her back while they’re here?” He had been at the meeting when Shepard had filled C-Sec in on Persephone's background.

“Can’t rule it out.” Shepard said, “Kaidan’s probably already told her to get somewhere safe, but…”

“We’ll secure her, Shepard, but it can’t be a top priority.”

“I know.” Shepard said, “Lock the door behind us.”

“Will do and good luck.” He said and they moved off, shouldering their weapons again.

Madeline and James threw out proximity mines into the hall, waiting for the boom before they moved forward. The C-Sec offices were clear, but with no survivors and they noted that a few were executed close range, shot in the back of the head. James loosed a Carnage from his omni-tool as Shepard Reaved, taking advantage of the compromised armor. Garrus was keeping back, sniping Troopers with his Mantis as they pushed forward to the Executor’s office.

_ “Shit, Shepard.” _

“What is it Bailey?” She yelled over the sound of gunfire.

_ “We found Lieutenant Victus.” _

“And?” She asked, even though she could guess what he was going to say.

_ “He’s dead.” _

“And Persephone?”

_ “No sign of her. Shepard, I hate to be that person…” _

“She didn’t do it, Bailey.”

_ “She was raised by Cerberus…” _

“She didn’t do it!”

“ _ He was stabbed in the back, Madeline!” _ Bailey yelled over the comm and she had to pause. “ _ I’ve watched her in Armax, Shepard.” _ He said with a sigh, _ “She’s good with a blade and where he was stabbed… either he was taken by surprise or he trusted them enough to let his guard down. Or both.” _

“She didn’t do it.”

_ “You telling me that, or yourself?”  _ He asked and there was quiet, “ _ I know you care about the girl, but you might need to make that call.” _

“I’ll cross that bridge if I get to it.” She said, “Bailey…”

_ “I’ll tell my guys to steer clear of her if they see her and she’s armed, but if she engages they’ll do their job.” _

“Can’t ask any more than that.”

_ “For what it’s worth, I hope you’re right about her.” _

“Yeah, me too.”

“Shepard?” James asked as he came over and she gave him a look, passing it between him and Garrus.

“Lieutenant Victus is dead.” Shepard said, “Persephone is MIA.”

“I talked to her this morning.” James said, “She said they were having lunch. You don’t think....?”

“It was close range with a knife, Vega.”

“She didn’t do it.”  James said.

“I hope not.” Madeline said.

“She didn’t do it, Shepard.” He was insistent and she caught herself before she asked the same thing Bailey had asked her.

_ You telling me that, or yourself? _

“We need to keep moving, find the Councilor.” Shepard said, “Move out.” There was nothing they, or anyone, could do for Tarquin Victus any longer.


	34. Chapter 34

Muscles ached and their ears rang from the crash, climbing stiffly out of the skycar. Madeline could only hope that C-Sec got to Thane in time, but with the amount of blood he had already lost…

She had to focus.

The Cerberus assassin had been a cocky son of a bitch and she hadn’t been able to get a clear shot at him as he and Thane fought. When the sword came out, she had a sense of deja vu. The way he moved was very reminiscent of the way Persephone moved around the battlefield. Lighter armored agents mixed with the Troopers, some with swords and some with sniper rifles. The ones with swords moved fluidly around the area, deflecting bullets with shielding coming from dark matter projectors in their suit’s palms. They were obviously female with slight builds and form fitting armor.

“Jumpy bastards don’t want to stay still.” James growled in frustration as he tried to get a bead on one of them. They didn’t even notice anything out of the ordinary until a Trooper died with a sword through his chest. One of them broke off from the rest, cutting down Troopers and snipers, using biotics to move around the area and deflecting bullets once the others realized what was happening. Those with swords were Thrown off ledges or into pillars or taken down by strong Warp fields, kept at a distance. The “defector” clashed with another with a clang of metal as their swords met, the two jumping and leaping around each other, slashing and stabbing as Shepard and the others provided cover fire. A downward slash was halted with a grab and the sword retracted into the hilt. There was a shrug from the other before the enemy was disarmed, the blade emerging as she slashed down with both, cutting deep.

She stood there for a moment after the other fell away, dead or dying littering the area. They didn’t move, watching her carefully, weapons raising as the masked face turned to look at them. She started walking towards them slowly and the swords retracted into the handles. They watched as she slipped them into loops on her hips and she reached up, releasing the seals on the helmet and taking it off, hooking it to her belt.

“Hey, mom.” Persephone said, her voice wavering slightly.

“Persephone.” Shepard said, “Why are you wearing Cerberus armor?”

_ Don’t say it, please don’t say it _ .

“Took it off the Phantom that killed Tarquin.” She said.

“Phantom?”

“It’s what they’re called. Advanced infiltration and assassination specialists.” Persephone said, “Their leader, Kai Leng, he’s an evil son of a bitch.”

“We’ve met.” Shepard said.

“My head really hurts.” Persephone said and pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes, “I’m starting to remember more and more and I just…”

“Persephone,” Shepard said, “About Tarquin.”

“I can’t talk about that, I can’t, not right now. I need to focus.” She said, her hands dropping as she looked at them.  “I’ll cut a path to dad, help C-Sec where I can. Bring up your omni-tool?” She brought up hers as she went to her.

“Copying the tech armor program?” Shepard asked as the shielding came up over Persephone’s Phantom armor.

“Makes me stand out from the others. Let C-Sec know so I don’t get shot at by them?” She asked and Shepard nodded.

“I’ll spread the word.” She said and Persephone moved past. “Kiddo.” She stopped, turning back to look at her. “Be careful.”

“Of course.” Persephone said, “I’ll see you with dad.”

She went to put the helmet back on, but James grabbed her hand and she looked at him.

“Vega, I…” The words died as he pulled her to his chest, holding her against the plates of his armor. Her chest burned and she forced back tears as his hand grasped hers tightly.

“Be careful, Jedi.” He whispered and she gave his hand a squeeze as she pulled away, putting the helmet back on quickly. With a pulse of biotics she was gone, propelling herself up a level.

“Bailey,” Shepard said into her comm as they started moving forward again, “There’s a Phantom, a Cerberus fighter with a sword, that has tech armor. She’s a friendly.”

_ “Roger...that.” _

“What?”

_ “I just got a report about a Phantom matching that description that just helped out some of my guys pinned down by an Atlas. Apparently she cut the controls on the back of the legs, punched a hole in the viewscreen and dropped in a grenade.” _ Bailey said.

“Sounds like something she would do.” Shepard said.

_ “Persephone?” _

“Yeah.”

_ “Glad I was wrong.” _

“Me too.”


	35. Chapter 35

The shock and hurt in Kaidan’s eyes tore at her as she sighted down on him, as they sighted down on each other on the ruined shuttle pad.

“Madeline, what are you doing?” Kaidan asked.

“Shepard is blocking the exit!” Udina said, “She’s with Cerberus!”

“Kaidan, listen to me.” Madeline said, “Udina planned this whole thing, he’s trying to take power. Councilor Valern can confirm it.”

“I find that a bit unconvincing with a gun in my face, Maddy.” Kaidan said and she lowered the pistol.

“Better?” She asked and he lowered his.

“Better.” Kaidan said with a nod.

“There are Cerberus assassin's about to come through that door, we just barely beat them here.” Madeline said, “We have to--” She caught movement out of the corner of her eye right before Udina gave a cry of alarm, an arm around his throat. The Phantom used him as a shield, keeping him between her and Kaidan as his gun came up and Shepard caught the tech armor over the vambrace. “Kaidan, don’t! That’s Persephone!”

“What? Shepard, she’s--”

“Wearing the armor of the Phantom that killed Tarquin.” Shepard said, “Persephone, let him go.”

“It’s his fault.” Her voice was slightly mechanized through the helmet, “Tarquin, all those C-Sec officers, the civilians, they’re all dead because of him.”

“And he’ll pay for that when C-Sec gets here.” Shepard said, “Just let him go.”

“Commander! Major! Take the shot!” Udina said and let out a choking sound as the arm tightened around his throat.

“Sweetie,” Kaidan said and holstered his weapon, “Persephone, I am so sorry about Tarquin, but you don’t want to do this.”

“Pretty sure I do.” Persephone said and Udina’s back bowed forward as she pressed the hilt of a sword up against his spine.

“You’re not going to do this.” Kaidan said, “Come on, you’re not going to kill him.” His voice was gentle, pleading, and she paused.

“How do you know that?” She asked.

“You’re my daughter, Persephone. I know you, and I know you would never kill someone in cold blood like this. You’re not that person.” Kaidan said and there was a long pause. For a moment, it seemed she was going to let him go.

“Maybe you don’t know me as well as you think.” She said.

“No!” Kaidan yelled and there was a wet sound and a spray of blood as the sword emerged through Udina’s chest. He died with an expression of pain and shock on his face and Persephone pushed him away from her, pulling the sword from his chest. Their attention went to the door at the crackle of a welder and when Shepard looked back, she was gone, Udina on the ground in the center of a slowly widening pool of blood.

The apartment was quiet, but it seemed to be waiting, waiting for Tarquin to walk through the door and come home. 

“Hey.” She didn’t look at him standing in the doorway of the bedroom, sitting curled up with her knees against her chest on the bed, not even having taken off the Cerberus armor, the helmet on the floor next to the bed.

“How’d you know I was here?” Persephone asked, sniffling.

“Had a feeling.” James said and walked into the room, sitting down next to her. He had taken off his armor, getting changed back into his casual clothes while Shepard and Kaidan were dealing with C-Sec, wanting to give Persephone time before he tracked her down.

“They think I’m a monster, don’t they.” She said,  “Shepard and Kaidan?”

“They don’t think you’re a monster, Jedi.” James said, “They’re just worried. You were pretty…” He paused, thinking of a good word to describe it, “Brutal to Udina.”

“You don’t think he deserved it?” Persephone said, finally looking at him, her eyes red.

“Oh no,  _ pendejo _ definitely deserved it.” James said, “A lot of people were killed today because he thought he had bigger  _ cojones _ that he did, but the way you did him; it was cold, Persephone.”

“Then why are you here?” She asked, “If what I did was so terrible, why did you come find me?”

“Because you’re hurting, and you shouldn’t be alone right now.” James said and there was a long pause.

“He’s really gone.” He pulled her against him and held her, wrapping his arms around her as she sobbed through her grief.

“I’m so sorry, Jedi.” James said as his eyes burned with tears. Not for the life lost, but for the heart broken at that loss.

“Help me--” She started scrambling, tearing at the armor as if it was burning her, “I can’t--”

“Easy there, easy.” James said and helped her remove it, throwing it away and out of sight. He pulled her into his lap as she curled against him in her tank top and shorts, holding her as she cried. He held her long after the tears stopped and he thought she had fallen asleep, but when he looked at her, her eyes were open.

“I was trained to be one of those, you know.” She said suddenly, “A Phantom. They based their training off the training they gave me.”

“Kind of figured.” He said, resting his cheek on the top of her head, breathing in the smell of her shampoo and biotics.

“When I put that armor on it felt…” She paused, “It felt strange, like it was something I had done hundreds of times before. It felt like...home. I hate that it made me feel that way.”

“I didn't like seeing you in it.” James admitted, “It showed me what you would have been if we hadn't found you. If we had never met.” Her hand came up to touch the side of his neck gently and his arms tightened around her just a little bit. “The palm blasters are badass, though. Very Iron Man.” That made her give a weak laugh.

“They came in handy, I'll give them that.” She said, “I'll see if I can get them incorporated into my armor. The helmet had a nice VI interface, too.”

“How about this?” He started, “How about you and I sit down with your armor and the Phantom set and we combine the two? Take pieces that you like from each and make a whole new set?”

“I'm keeping the swords.”

“Well, shit yeah. The swords are hot.” James said, “Really ties to together the Jedi thing.”

“I'm not a Jedi.” She said with a roll of her eyes, but she was smiling.

“Yes you are.” He said, “If you could charge those blades,  _ that  _ would be awesome.”

“I'll see if I can. I didn't want to try it and have it break them or something when I still needed them.”

“Makes sense.” James said with a small shrug and there was silence again.

“We broke up, you know.” She said, “Me and Tarquin. At our lunch today, we realized that we couldn’t make it work and broke up, and now he’s…” She stopped, curling into his chest again.

“I’m sorry, Persephone.” He said again, pressing a kiss to her hair.

“You think Shepard will let me back on the Normandy?” She asked, “I don’t think I can be on the Citadel for a bit.”

“Don’t see why she wouldn’t.”

“I can think of a couple reasons.”

“Let’s find out. Come on.” Vega said, patting her leg and she slid off his lap, getting off the bed.

Persephone stayed against his side as they wove through the docking bay heading for the Normandy. C-Sec was doing regular sweeps of the area, looking for “surprises” left behind by Cerberus and she kept her head down, even though she knew none of them would be able to recognize her. The Phantom armor was stuffed into a bag slung over James’s shoulder and the swords were retracted and locked, tucked into her hoodie pocket, her hands wrapped around the hilts almost on reflex.

She was almost paranoid that C-Sec was going to stop them and search them, that they would find the armor and swords and think that she was a Cerberus agent in hiding. That James would get pulled down with her as a conspirator. None did and they went through the airlock and through decontamination, heading into the CIC. Shepard and Kaidan were standing next to the galaxy map talking and she thought about turning and walking away.

“Hey.” James called out, “Look who I found.” They both looked up and their eyes went wide as they saw her.

“Hey guy--oof!” James stepped away as Shepard and Kaidan came at her, pulling her to them in crushing hugs.

“Are you all right?” Kaidan asked.

“You worried us, kiddo, you just vanished and EDI couldn’t locate your omni-tool.” Shepard said.

“I turned it off.” Persephone said, “I needed to be alone.”

“Where was she?” Shepard asked James.

“Tarquin’s apartment.” He said and Shepard held her tighter.

“Oh sweetheart.” She said and Persephone turned her attention to Kaidan.

“I’m sorry.” She said, tears filling her eyes.

“Oh god, for what?”

“You told me to get somewhere safe and then the whole thing with Udina, and I…”

“Hey, hey, no, it’s okay.” He pulled her into his arms, a hand to the back of her head as she cried against him. “I’m just glad you’re okay and you’re here. I just wish it hadn’t been  _ you _ that did it.”

“What’s in the bag, Vega?” Shepard asked.

“Not something you’d want to pull out in front of everyone.” Vega said, transferring the bag from one hand to the other.

"The armor I was wearing.” Persephone said and the mood sobered.

"We’ll take this up to the Loft.” Kaidan said and took the bag from him, fingers tightening around the strap. “The three of us need to talk.”

“Thanks for finding her, James.” Shepard said and he gave her a nod.

“You going to be okay?” James asked and Persephone nodded, “I’ll be down in the shuttle bay if you need me.” He squeezed her hand and they moved off, heading for the elevator.

Kai Leng piloted the cloaked shuttle away from the Citadel, patching into Cronos Station.

_ “Report.” _

“Councilor Udina is dead, and the Council still has control of the Citadel.” Leng said and the Illusive Man sighed.

_ “Udina was expendable. What about Persephone?” _

“I saw her a couple times while she was assisting C-Sec and Commander Shepard, but was unable to get close enough to retrieve her.”

_ “Persephone will be back with us before too long. She was sidetracked, but I have every confidence that she will be back on board the Normandy and her mission will continue.” _

“Sir, there might be a possibility that she was compromised by Shepard.”

_ “I have things in motion should that happen. She will deliver the Normandy, and it’s crew, in due time.” _


	36. Chapter 36

The armor was laid out on the table in the Loft, Shepard, Kaidan, and Persephone sitting around the room staring at it as if it were going to come to life.

“I didn’t like seeing you in it.” Shepard said.

“James said the same thing.” Persephone pointed out and she made a sound. “Said it showed him what I would have become if you hadn’t found me.”

“Yep, I don’t like it.” Shepard said, getting up from her seat and walking a bit, turning her back on the armor.

“It’s her training, Maddy.” Kaidan said from his seat on the bed. “And I don’t like it either. What happened to the sword?”

“I have them.” Persephone said, taking her hands out of the hoodie pocket, fingers wrapped around the hilts of the retracted blades. Kaidan sat up a little straighter when he saw them but didn’t otherwise react. “I cleaned and oiled them.” Leaning forward in her seat on the couch, she set them down on the table top and leaned back again, pulling her knees to her chest. “What did C-Sec have to say about Udina?”

“Councilor’s have told them not to pursue anything with it.” Kaidan said, “You helped during the coup attempt and saved their lives. They owe you one and they know it.”

“I have no interest in collecting.” She said and Shepard went over to the table, picking up a sword and examining it. With a press of a button, the blade extended, another press and it retreated back into the hilt. A panel slid over the opening, hiding the compartment from view.

“Well, okay then.” Shepard said and put them back down on the table.

“James and I are going to sit down and design a new set of armor with pieces of this set and my other. Slap a new paint job on it and I'll be good to go.”

“You sweep it for trackers or transmitters?” Kaidan asked and she nodded.

“I didn't find anything, but I'll see if EDI can do a more thorough exam on it, in case I missed something.” Persephone said.

“Your dad and I got tapped for Spectre duty,” Shepard said, “So we’ll be on the Citadel for a couple more days at least. Council wants us coordinating with C-Sec, checking for additional breaches or backdoors in the security protocols, tracking down suspect conspirators, that sort of thing.”

“I have some things at Kaidan’s and...Tarquin’s that I need to get. Unless you don't want me back on the Normandy? All things considered?” Persephone asked, giving Madeline a cautious look.

“Fuck no, I want you where I can see you,” Shepard said, “Especially since now we know Cerberus can get onto the Citadel without being detected. Also, Kaidan’s asked to come back and I told him yes, so I  _ definitely  _ don't want you living on the Citadel alone. James can help you get whatever you need to get, I don't want you going anywhere on the Citadel alone, at least for the time being. If me or Kaidan can't go with you, then Garrus or James will. I know Vega will basically volunteer, so that's not an issue.”

“Got it.” Persephone said with a nod, seeing Shepard’s reasoning and too tired both mentally and physically to argue that she could watch her own back.

“Kiddo,” Shepard said, “Why don’t you crash up here for a few hours? You look like you’re about to collapse.”

“It’s been a long day.” Persephone said, “But I can rest under Engineering, it’s no big deal.”

“You sure, sweety?” Kaidan asked and she nodded.

“It's comforting being next to the drive core. Besides, you two don’t look all that bright eyed either.” Persephone said and got up, putting the armor back in the bag, setting the blades down on top before zipping it up, slinging it over her shoulder and heading for the elevator.

That night after lights out, James dozed in his cot in the shuttlebay, slipping in and out of sleep as his mind went through the events of the day. A piercing scream cut through the air from the ventilation shaft and he was up.

_ Persephone! _

He grabbed the gun he kept nearby and headed for the elevator, heart pounding. What seemed like an eternity later, he was finally at Engineering and he cleared the area, heading down below as another scream split the air. When he came down the steps, he cleared left and right, but when he looked at the cot, he saw she was sitting up, face buried in her knees that were drawn against her chest.

“Persephone?” He asked and she looked up at him, eyes red and face tear streaked. She cast a look at the gun in his hand at his side.

“Sorry.” Persephone said, “Nightmare.” He put the pistol on a crate and went to her, sitting on the cot behind her and pulling her against his chest. “Did I wake you? I’m sorry.” She said as she held his arms.

“Don’t be,  _ linda _ .” James said, “My first thought was you were in danger.” She was warm in his arms, but he shivered a little in the chill of the cargo space, having neglected to pull on a shirt, thinking he was coming to her rescue with bare feet and wearing a pair of Alliance sweatpants.  Getting up, he dug in a crate until he found a thicker thermal blanket and went back over to her, motioning her to move over.

“James, you really don’t have to---” She stopped as he made noises at her, moving over as much as she was able to on the cot. He got in next to her, laying the blanket over them and pulling her to his chest. After some shifting around, James laid on his back with Persephone curled against his side, head on his chest. His arm was wrapped around her waist, his hand holding hers. “You’re comfortable.”

“Uh huh, get some sleep.” James said and her fingers tightened in his in silent thanks. She fell asleep surrounded by him.

Warm breath ruffled her hair, a strong, steady heartbeat in her ear and she woke slowly, her hand sliding over warm, smooth skin. James hummed at the touch, his hand tightening on her waist.

“G’morning.” He rumbled, his voice rough from sleep.

“Good morning.” She echoed. They had moved little during the night and she was still laying on his chest, though now their legs were tangled and the blanket had worked itself down to their waists.

“How’d you sleep?” He asked, still not opening his eyes.

“Better.”

“No nightmares?”

“No nightmares.”

“Good.” He said, tugging her against him before giving out a sigh, “We should probably get up.”

“Probably.” Persephone said with a giggle.

“But at the same time…” He pulled the blanket back up to cover them, wrapping both arms around her. “You’re comfy...and warm.”

“It’s the biotics.” She said, propping herself up on his chest to look at him. A slow grin pulled at his scarred lips as he opened his eyes look at her.

“So biotics run hotter, huh?” He asked, giving her a wink and she groaned at the cheesiness, sliding off his chest and leaving the cot. “No, don’t leave me!”

“You’re adorable first thing in the morning.”

“I’m adorable all the time, what’re you talking about?” He said as he sat up, the blanket pooling in his lap.

“Hey, kiddo, you up? I was wonder--” Shepard came down the steps and stopped, quickly turning her back on them. “Vega, please tell me you’re wearing pants.”

“I’m wearing pants.”

“He’s wearing pants.” Persephone echoed.

“So what the hell are you doing down here half naked in her bed?”

_ “Commander Shepard, I may be able to answer that question.”  _ EDI said over the comm,  _ “At zero-three-thirty hours this morning, Persephone experienced a spike in adrenaline production as well as several other key indicators of being under an incredible amount of stress. In short: she was having a rather traumatic nightmare that resulted in her screaming. Lieutenant Vega heard her through the ventilation duct in the shuttle bay and, possibly thinking she was in danger, went to her defense. Please note the pistol to your left. Because he believed she was in life-threatening danger, he did not bother wasting precious time simply to pull on appropriate clothing. When he arrived, he saw that she was, in fact, fine physically and stayed to offer her comfort. After they went to sleep, she entered into a more peaceful REM cycle and did not appear to have any more nightmares. Nothing inappropriate transpired between the two.” _

“Thanks, EDI.” Persephone said and James got out of the cot. A blush came over her face at the sight of him, chest bare and sweatpants slung dangerously low on trim hips. She finally saw the full tattoo on his lower stomach; crossed old fashioned revolvers on a bed of roses, wings stretching on either side to his hips. It was grayscale, but beautiful, the detail incredible.

“Young and dumb.” He said, noticing where she was looking. “First tattoo I got after watching  _ way _ too many vids about tattooed spies.”

“I like it.” She said, raising her eyes back to his face and he gave her a crooked smile.

“I'll head back to the shuttle bay, get some real clothes on.” He said, tugging the sweatpants up a little higher. He reached out as moved around her and squeezed her fingers, receiving a gentle squeeze in response.

“Later, Vega.” Shepard said when he went past.

“See you, Lola.” He gave her a short wave as he went up the stairs. Madeline turned to look at Persephone then, her expression concerned.

"You've been having nightmares?” She asked and Persephone shrugged.

“Not every night, but often enough.” She said, “I'm starting to remember things and it’s just...my brain is processing what's coming back to me.”

“You should talk to Chakwas, she might be able to help you out.”

“I'll be fine, really.”

“As long as you’re in the arms of a big, strong, tattooed marine?” Shepard asked with a smirk.

“Well, it doesn’t hurt.” Persephone said, giving a small embarrassed laugh as she turned bright red.

“You don’t think you’re moving a little fast, though?” She asked and Persephone gave her a questioning look. “So soon after Tarquin--”

“Tarquin and I were over long before we officially called it quits, and yes, I miss him, and yes, it hurts that he’s gone, but I…”

“I gotcha, kiddo.”

“Besides, there’s nothing going on between me and James.” Persephone said, “He just stayed to make sure I was okay, that’s it. Now, you were going to ask me something?”

“I was going to see if you were up then find Vega, get your armor put together. Kaidan went and got your other set earlier this morning from his apartment.” Shepard said and she nodded.

“Let me get real clothes on and I’ll meet you in the shuttle bay.” Shepard gave her a small smile before leaving and Persephone sat on the edge of her bed. It had felt nice to wake up in James’s arms this morning; warm and secure. The way he had held her made her feel...safe.

She pulled a pair of jeans on over her shorts, having showered before she went to bed last night cycle. Her hair was a riotous, curly mess, snagging painfully when she dragged a brush through it and she tied it back and out of the way. She still needed to get the rest of her clothes from the Citadel and would probably do that today, but keep some of them at Kaidan’s.

Putting a hoodie on over her t-shirt, she walked up the stairs to Engineering, heading for the elevator.


	37. Chapter 37

The armor was laid out on Vega’s work bench along with her other set, Vega, Shepard, and Persephone standing there looking at them with identical stances of their arms crossed over their chests.

“I hate that armor.” Shepard said, “And I hated seeing you in it.”

“You mentioned that.” Persephone said.

“I say we swing by the nearest star and blow it out the airlock.” Vega suggested.

“We do have a trash compactor.” Madeline said. “The room it’s in is being occupied by Allers, but we have one.”

“It’s still useful.” Persephone said, “EDI, this thing have any bugs I may have missed?”

_ “By ‘bugs’ you mean tracking devices or transmitters? I swept the armor but didn’t find anything, but then again, they might not be activated until the armor is worn and the VI comes online.” _ EDI said.

“You mean I have to put it on again?”

_ “Yes, Persephone.” _

“Okay, let’s get this over with.” She said and pulled her hoodie over her head, James taking it from her and setting it aside. Persephone paused, staring at the Phantom set. “Can you guys give me a minute?”

“We’ll be over there.” Shepard said, moving her head towards the elevator and she and James moved off, giving Persephone the illusion of privacy. With a sigh, she picked it up and headed into James’s workstation, out of sight from most of the shuttlebay, slipping off her jeans and throwing them to lay over his pull-up bar.

Shepard looked over as she heard boots on the metal floor and her stomach lurched as the Phantom came out from James’s station.

“Holy fu-ah!” James ground out, flinching back almost violently at the sight, “I really hate that armor.”

“Try wearing it.” Persephone said, her voice slightly mechanized. “EDI, you picking up anything?”

_ “No, Persephone, the armor is clean.” _ With that, Persephone removed the helmet, setting it on the workbench.

“Let’s put this thing through it’s paces.” Shepard said, “I want to see how strong that shielding is. James, grab your weapon.”

“Right here?” James asked, “In front of everyone?” Persephone snorted, putting a hand over her mouth.

“Smartass!”  Shepard said, pushing at his shoulder, a wide smile on her face, “Grab your damn gun!” He went over to the gun locker, chuckling to himself as he opened it up, grabbing two pistols.

“Let’s start off light.” He said, loading three clips in each and handing one to Shepard. Persephone put the helmet back on, heading to the center of the shuttle bay and held up her hand. There was a whirring as the generator in her palm started to glow and she was encased in a bubble shield.

Taking aim, Vega and Madeline opened fire, aiming for the shield and not the person behind it just in case a round went through. The sound of gunfire echoed through the shuttlebay along with the discordant warping sound of the shield being struck. There was a pause as clips ejected from their weapons and they loaded the next one, opening fire once again. Madeline started walking around her, looking for weaknesses in the shielding but finding none.

When the pistols were spent, James set them aside to be cleaned of carbon buildup later, going back to the weapons locker and pulling out assault rifles, again loading them with three clips each. Madeline took one from him and they shouldered them, squeezing the triggers in bursts.

“What’s your display say, kiddo?” Madeline asked as they paused to reload.

“Shielding at ninety-seven percent.” Persephone said and James let out a low whistle.

“It’s been taking heavy fire and it only got scratched?” He said, “That’s scary.”

“Vega, grab the Claymore.” Shepard said.

“A claymore, or the Claymore?” He asked, heading over to the locker after setting the rifles aside with the pistols.

“The Claymore.”

“Okay.” He said, taking out the shotgun and walking up to Persephone. “You know, at this range I’d probably just get shanked before I had time to fire.”

“Do it.” Persephone said and James squeezed the trigger. The blast echoed through the shuttlebay and the shielding flickered but held.

“Persephone?” Shepard asked.

“Eighty-five percent.” She informed them and Shepard went back to the locker, taking out the Black Widow sniper rifle. Setting up on the requisitions terminal, she took aim and fired. The shield collapsed and Persephone staggered backwards a few steps. “Persephone!”

“I’m fine!” She called back, “The impact against the shield overloaded the generator, the shield was still strong, but the generator has to re-cycle before it can project again.”

“Okay, good to know.” Shepard said, “One shot with a Black Widow to overload the shield and it gives us an opening to take out the Phantom before they can throw it back up again. How long before you’re able to do that?”

“According to the HUD? About a minute.” Persephone said, shaking her hand. “Got tingles all the way up my arm.”

“You good though, right?” James asked and she nodded, reaching up and taking off the helmet, brushing her hair out of her face.

_ “Commander Shepard,”  _ EDI started, _ “I was monitoring the shielding during your exercise. It seems with the properties of non-Newtonian fluid.” _

“Meaning?” Madeline asked.

"It solidifies when struck?” Persephone asked.

_ “That is correct, Persephone. At the point of impact, the shield hardens from the kinetic forces. Put the shield up again.” _

“Okay.” Persephone said, and brought her hand up, her palm lighting and the shielding snapping around her again.

_ “Lieutenant Vega, try to reach out and touch her through the shield with even pressure.” _

“I don’t think it’s going to work, but okay.” James said and reached out slowly. His hand passed through the shield and she gave him a gentle smile as he held the side of her jaw, thumb moving over her cheek.

_ “Because the shield is only solid when it needs to be, it uses less power and therefore can last longer. The shot from the Black Widow made it use  _ too much _ power too quickly, causing it to overload.” _

“Again, good to know.” Madeline said with a nod. “Okay, kiddo. I’m happy with it for now, go ahead and take it off.”

“Thank you!” Persephone said and the shield vanished, James dropping his hand back to his side. 

“Nothing going on between you two.” Madeline said, looking at them both. “ _ Right. _ ”

“Lola, we’re just--” James started but stopped when she held up a hand.

“Save it, Vega. As long as it doesn’t distract you two on missions, I’m okay with it.” She said, “Can’t speak for Kaidan, though, he takes his role as her father  _ very  _ seriously.”

“Really mom, we’re only--”

“Uh huh, not buying it.” Shepard said, “Vega take care of the guns, I’m needed on the Citadel.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Vega said and she left the shuttle bay.

“So, yeah.” Persephone said, “I’m just going to take this armor off now.” She went to get changed back into her casual clothes as James moved off, heading for the weapons bench.


	38. Chapter 38

James was still working long after lights out, unable to sleep. He had noticed on the Citadel that there had been a delay with his rifle, so he was taking it apart, making sure nothing was warped and everything was clean. He heard the elevator and looked over as the doors opened.

“Hey, Jedi.” He said, looking back at the slide in his hands, “What’re you doing up?” He felt her forehead hit his back and he set down the piece, turning and holding her in his arms. “Nightmares again?” She nodded against his chest. “Do you want to talk about them?” She shook her head. “Okay.” Turning her in his arms, he faced the workbench again with her back against his chest. “Help me with this, it’ll take your mind off of it.”

“Thank you.” Persephone said, starting to clean pieces of the rifle. They worked around each other easily, not tripping over each other as they reached for parts or cleaner. He let her put it back together again, watching her as she shouldered it, checking the sight before laying it back down the table.

“Better?”

“A little.” He picked up the rifle, going over to the weapon locker and putting it away, locking it again. She was still at the workbench when he went back over, wrapping his arms around her from behind and pressing a kiss to the top of her head. Her hands slid over his arms and she leaned back against him. “You’re comfortable.” She said and he hummed in response, his arms tightening around her. He moved back as she turned to face him, watching her carefully as she looked up at him. Her hands pressed against his chest, moving across the expanse, sliding up to his shoulders then his neck. She almost seemed to be exploring him, memorizing his lines as her hands moved over them. His own hands went to her waist, pulling her against him gently.

Slender fingers held the back of his neck and she pulled, rising on her toes to meet him. Soft lips pressed against his own and his eyes closed as he pressed back against them.

Her heart was pounding in her chest, nerves making her feel almost jittery. She didn’t know what had possessed her to kiss him, but she was glad she did. Persephone breathed in deep, taking him into her lungs. She felt herself lifted, sitting on the workbench, gasping against his lips as he moved between her legs. Her lungs burned as he pulled away, forehead resting against hers as he fought to catch his breath.

The intensity of his next kiss sent a shiver down her spine, his lips parting hers and his tongue slipping into her mouth. The width of his shoulders grounded her as she held onto him, but as his hands went to push under her shirt, she tensed, breaking the kiss.

“I can’t, I can’t, I’m sorry.” She said, hiding her face in her hands and heard him sigh.

“Don’t be, I’m rushing it.” James said, his hands settling on her shoulders as he pressed a kiss to her hair.

“Tarquin, he…” She paused, “He never made sure I was ready. Physically I was, but mentally and emotionally I…”

“I got you.” He said, “We take this at your speed.” She looked up at him, reaching up to touch his face gently, the tip of her thumb moving over his bottom lip. James gave her a gentle smile, moving into her hand to press a kiss to her palm. “Let’s get some sleep?” She gave a nod and he backed away so she could hop down from the workbench. He had already changed into his night clothes and she gave a giggle as he scooped her up into his arms, carrying her Princess style to his cot.

Early next morning, Steve walked into the shuttlebay, mug of coffee in his hands. James wasn’t at his station and he went over, but stopped at the sight in front of him. James and Persephone were asleep together on his cot, James spooned behind her with his arms around her protectively. With a smirk, he took a picture of the pair with his omni-tool and walked away to the shuttle.

“Garrus.” He said into his comm, “You owe me fifty credits.”

_ “For what?” _ The Turian asked.

“Check your omnitool.” Steve said, forwarding the picture he took to him.

_ "Son of a bitch.” _ Steve got the notification of the credit transfer a moment later and he snorted.

Hearing movement across the shuttlebay, he went over the requisitions terminal, pretending to work on requisitions but not focusing on anything it was showing him.

“Good morning.” It was whispered and gentle, as was its echoed reply. There was shuffling and a soft giggle.

“You’re a cuddler first thing.” Persephone said, but he didn’t hear James’ mumbled reply. Steve knew he shouldn’t be eavesdropping on them, but  _ it was about damn time they got together. _ “I have to get up.”

“No.”

“Which means you have to get off me.”

“ _ Hell _ no.” That made her laugh, but it was quickly muffled and she let out a hum.

“Good morning you two!” Steve called out and there was the sounds of scrambling.

“Good morning, Steve!” Persephone said as she emerged from James’s station, running her fingers through her hair and pulling her shirt straight, a pink blush to her face.

“Sleep well?” He asked, giving her a knowing look and her blush deepened.

“Yes.” She said as James came out behind her, tugging his sweatpants up a little higher. “I should...go.” James caught her hand as she went to move away and pulled her back, leaning down to press a kiss to her lips. “Never going to get tired of that.” She said as she pulled away and James watched her go with a soft smile and softer eyes.

“You got it bad.” Steve said.

“Shut up.” James said, going back to his workstation and grabbing his hygiene bag and a change of clothes.

“Real bad.”

“Shut up.” He repeated before taking the elevator up to the crew deck to shower.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos are nice!  
> Comments are even better~


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